While the domestic market began growing, export-oriented companies were retrenching.

Both areas have concentrations of the small, aggressively export-oriented companies that form the profitable backbone of Italy's economy.

The strong yen hurts Japan's export-oriented companies by making their products less price competitive.

And the weakness of the yen means that these export-oriented companies will be very competitive abroad, adding to their earnings outlook.

They said most investors here weclomed the recent fall in the yen, which would help export-oriented Japanese companies avoid unnecessary exchange losses.

Manufacturers are fuming, contending that such a tax would greatly harm export-oriented companies.

Beyond the quake, the yen has been strong against the dollar in recent days, which threatens to hurt Japan's export-oriented companies.

This makes Samel 90 a competitive, export-oriented company, as the export share reaches as far as 70% of the annual sales.

The taxation system was restructured to favour export-oriented companies and to provide incentives for investment.

Similarly, the Frankfurt stock exchange fell 2.1 percent, with export-oriented companies, the ones most likely to be hurt by a weaker dollar, leading the slide.