PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions
SINGAPORE, March 14 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)
-- As the dollar plunged to a record low against the euro, Goldman Sachs estimated that the euro zone overtook the United States as the world's biggest economy, measured by market exchange rates.
-- The Japanese government was no closer to resolving a crisis over the leadership of the Bank of Japan as a surging yen threatened to aggravate an already worsening economic climate.
-- Taiwan is very unlikely ever to return to Chinese rule, Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's outgoing president, said, claiming the preservation of the island state's de facto independence as his political legacy.
-- Xu Jiayin, the 49-year-old owner of real estate developer Evergrande Real Estate, could be worth as much as $7.1 billion -- and mainland China's second-richest person -- if his company prices its IPO at the top of its range this month.
WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)
-- Japan's weakening economy suffered a new blow as the rapidly falling dollar pushed the yen past the 100-to-the-dollar milestone for the first time in 12 years, threatening the country's export machine.
-- Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T) is tapping the brakes on production of big pickups and sport-utility vehicles in its Texas and Indiana plants as part of a response to slowing demand for those types of trucks in the U.S. market.
