JAPAN

Japan's Fujifilm Holdings said on Wednesday it is considering supporting scandal-hit endoscope maker Olympus Corp although neither side looks likely to move quickly on an equity alliance that Olympus needs to shore up its finances.

Fujifilm Holdings would consider supporting Olympus Corp if asked, its president said on Wednesday.

Japan's scandal-hit Olympus Corp will wait until a management overhaul in late April before bringing in a potential strategic partner, its president said on Wednesday, signaling the firm is in no hurry to shore up its finances.

Elpida Memory will seek an equity tie-up with U.S. rival Micron Technology, a newspaper said on Wednesday, as the Japanese firm confronts mounting pressure from approaching debt repayments and a deteriorating memory chip market.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System is selling a portfolio of 28 housing communities to a partnership between San Diego-based developer Newland Real Estate Group LLC and an affiliate of Japan's largest home-building company, Sekisui House Ltd <1928.T>, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Yang's abrupt departure comes two weeks after Yahoo appointed Scott Thompson its new CEO, with a mandate to return the once-leading Internet portal to the heights it enjoyed in the 1990s.

Tommy Lee Jones will play General Douglas MacArthur in Emperor, a thriller/epic directed by Peter Webber (Girl With a Pearl Earring).

Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory will seek a capital tie-up with U.S. rival Micron Technology as it struggles with a deteriorating market and stiff competition from South Korean competitors, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Hyundai said Tuesday that it was proud to rank highest among automotive brands in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Consumer Retention Study, attributing the honor to an expanding model lineup and better perceptions of Hyundai's quality and appeal across the board in recent years.

Yahoo co-founder and one-time CEO Jerry Yang resigned from the company’s board as well as from the board of China’s Alibaba Group, where Apple has a 44 percent interest

DETROIT -- Three years ago at the North American International Auto Show, Nissan North America vice president Al Castignetti watched as most companies dismissed perhaps Nissan's biggest risk -- its electric concept vehicle, the Nissan Leaf.

Germany's exit from nuclear power could cost the country as much as 1.7 trillion euros ($2.15 trillion) by 2030, or two thirds of the country's GDP in 2011, according to Siemens , which built all of Germany's 17 nuclear plants.

Aerospace group EADS batted away concerns over the financing needed to maintain a record wave of jet deliveries this year, as bumper orders from its Airbus unit and a major Japanese leasing deal provided fresh evidence of Asia's rising economic power.

Japan's Nikkei average edged higher on Tuesday and recovered its footing after better-than-expected Chinese economic data and solid demand at a French treasury bill auction reassured investors in the wake of European debt downgrades.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country's top carmaker, raised prices of all its models on Tuesday, sending its shares up as much as 11 percent as investors rallied behind the company after months of falling sales appeared to have levelled in December.

Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday as slightly better-than-expected Chinese economic growth data soothed investor worries that the euro zone debt crisis was slowing global activity.

Hosting the majority of the planet's population, it is not a surprise to see Asian countries playing an increasingly prominent role in today's business world.

Asian shares inched higher and the euro stayed above a 17-month trough Tuesday as investors focused on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on global growth.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Sunday named Neil Ashe as the new president and chief executive of its global eCommerce business as the world's largest retailer in a move to bolster its online presence.

Accounting groups KPMG and Ernst & Young have been cleared of responsibility for a $1.7 billion accounting fraud at Japan's Olympus Corp, one of the nation's worst corporate scandals, in a report issued on Tuesday by a company-appointed panel of lawyers.

Asian shares inched higher and the euro stayed above a 17-month trough on Tuesday as investors focused on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the euro zone debt crisis on global growth.