September 17, 1992

In a blow to Tokyo's standing as a world financial center, the General Motors Corporation and four other large foreign companies announced separately today that they would stop selling their shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The decisions seemed to signal a reversal of a trend of the last half of the 1980's, when many global-minded American and European companies rushed to list their shares here in hopes of increasing their international prestige and raising money in Tokyo's generous capital markets. From 1984 to 1991, the number of foreign companies selling shares on the Tokyo exchange rose to 125 from 11.

After a futile day of trying to defend the value of the pound, Britain dropped out of the European Monetary System on Wednesday, at least temporarily. Its departure from the monetary system, a cornerstone of greater European unity, left the program of economic coordination in tatters. Before taking that unexpected step, which effectively allowed the pound to drop sharply in value, Britain desperately tried to pump up the currency. First it raised one of its key interest rates to 12 percent from 10 percent. Only hours later -- after the pound had sunk still further -- it announced another increase, to 15 percent. By raising rates so sharply, Britain hoped to make the pound more attractive to investors and stop concerted selling by speculators that was pushing it down.

Turmoil in Europe Britain left the European Monetary System, a cornerstone of European unity, after a futile day of trying to defend the value of the pound by raising interest rates. The move left Europe's program of economic coordination in tatters. [ Page A1. ] The causes of Europe's currency crisis lie as much in the conflicts between domestic and regional political priorities as they do in the basic economics of international finance. [ A1. ]

After voting Republican in every Presidential election but one over the last 40 years, Florida has emerged as an unexpected battleground in the race between President Bush and Gov. Bill Clinton, according to new polls. The latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, taken Thursday through Monday, gave Mr. Clinton a slim advantage in Florida, 48 percent to 42 percent, with 10 percent undecided. Another poll, published today in The Miami Herald, gave Mr. Bush a slight advantage, 48 percent to 41 percent, with 11 percent undecided.

METRO DIGEST THE 1992 CAMPAIGN LOOKING TO NOVEMBER The general election campaign for the Senate from New York began in earnest, as the Democratic nominee, State Attorney General Robert Abrams, fresh from his narrow victory over Geraldine A. Ferraro, squared off for a bruising battle against the Republican incumbent, Alfonse M. D'Amato. A1. A CRUSHING DISAPPOINTMENT The Senate primary, one of the most visible races in this political year, turned into a crushing disappointment for the feminist movement, leaving bitter divisions and questions about the damage to the political careers of two feminist heroines, Geraldine A. Ferraro and Elizabeth Holtzman. B5. A NEW ROLE FOR SHARPTON The Rev. Al Sharpton, the often flamboyant protest leader, did something new this week. He collected votes -- more than 160,000 of them in the Senate Democratic primary -- and, according to many politicians, succeeded in catapulting himself, at least for the moment, to a new level as a serious political force. B5. The Abrams image. News analysis, B4. Nydia M. Velazquez, the woman who defeated Solarz. Woman in the news, B6. Republican nominee begins Connecticut campaign. B6. NEW YORK CITY A GROWING FLOOD OF HOMELESS FAMILIES The number of homeless families entering New York City's troubled shelter system this summer is almost twice last summer's level, causing a backup that has left more than 100 families a night sleeping on floors and tables in city welfare offices. B3. ANOTHER NEWS BID? With a deadline looming for a wage cut, the unions at The Daily News struggled to agree on a new owner for the paper and another prospective buyer appeared on the scene. B3. Officers won't be prosecuted in a shooting. B3. Research center dedicated at Columbia. B3. REGION NEW CHALLENGES IN BROOKHAVEN A group of environmental lawyers and state legislators, frustrated by the Brookhaven Town Board's approval of projects proposed by John McNamara, a car dealer and developer, is challenging those approvals in light of Mr. McNamara's admission that he bribed town officials. B7. A VICTORY FOR THE NASSAU G.O.P. The Nassau County Republican Committee and its chairman, Joseph N. Mondello, came up big winners in Tuesday's primary. Republican voters resisted a call for a change in party leadership and supported Mr. Mondello's candidate for Congress in the newly redrawn Fourth Congressional District. B7. COMING UP WITH A BETTER TOMATO Once feared as poisonous and at other times treasured as an aphrodisiac, the New Jersey tomato is going international. An Israeli research group will help develop a hardier tomato. B7. 500,000 FINE FOR NUCLEAR PLANT? Federal authorities proposed fining the New York State Power Authority $500,000, saying it had suffered "a significant breakdown in management and administrative control" at the James A. Fitzpatrick nuclear plant. B7.