三菱UFJの時価総額が初めて日本一に

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is July fourteenth. Japan's biggest banking group has just become the country's most valuable company for the first time, passing Toyota. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

On July thirteenth in the Tokyo stock market, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's share price rose sharply.

It means the price of a company's stock.

As a result, this company's market value became number one in Japan for the first time.

It means market capitalization, the total value of all a company's shares.

Market value means the total amount you get by adding up all of a company's shares.

It means an amount of money.

It passed Toyota and SoftBank Group, which had been number one until now.

It means to overtake or pass someone ahead of you.

For a financial institution like a bank to be number one by market value is very rare.

It means a financial institution, such as a bank.

On the thirteenth the share price rose at one point to 3,564 yen, its highest since the company was listed.

It means a company being listed on a stock exchange.

The share price rose because the view that Japan's interest rates will climb grew stronger.

It means a way of seeing something, a view or outlook.

Long-term rates rose at one point to 2.9 percent, the highest in about twenty-nine years, since November 1996.

It means the long-term interest rate.

When rates rise, banks earn more interest on the money they lend, so their profits are expected to grow.

It means the interest earned or paid on money.

For that reason, many investors bought bank shares, and prices rose even more.

It means an investor, someone who puts money into stocks.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

It became number one in Japan for the first time.

About forty-two trillion yen.

A stronger view that interest rates in Japan will rise.

That's all for today. Japan's largest bank group topped every other company by market value for the first time, passing Toyota, as rising interest rates lifted hopes for bigger bank profits. Many say it marks a turning point after decades led by manufacturers. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.