JAPAN

Talks aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear programmes ended on Sunday to allow delegates to return to their home countries to discuss a "nuts and bolts" joint statement with their governments, the U.S. envoy said.

Credit crisis woes hit European stocks on Monday and looked set to at least hold back Wall Street after UBS, Credit Suisse and Citi signalled threats to their bottom lines.

Japanese big manufacturers' sentiment was unchanged in September compared with three months earlier, a Bank of Japan corporate survey showed on Monday, but the headline figure was slightly stronger than forecast.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 percent on Monday as investors bought Fanuc Ltd and other large-cap shares after the Bank of Japan's tankan survey showed manufacturers remained optimistic despite turmoil in global credit markets.

Digital camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc said on Friday it may buy back more of its own shares, adding to the $3.9 billion worth already repurchased so far this year, sending its shares higher.

Many of Jun Ogawa's friends frown on his playing the stock market, but he's not bothered. The 68-year-old retiree has built up a nest egg to fund his hobbies -- skiing, cycling and overseas travel -- by investing in domestic stocks using a slice of his retirement payout.

World stocks powered ahead on Thursday and the dollar hit another low against the euro as investors banked on more U.S. interest rate cuts and at least temporarily set aside gnawing fears about global credit.

Stocks climbed and a downtrodden dollar recovered on Wednesday as optimism over a tentative deal to end a strike at General Motors offset data showing a retreat in business spending.

Japan Post bank will expand into the home mortgage market, partnering with regional banks, it announced on Wednesday.

Japan's Hitachi Ltd is mulling options for its ailing hard disk drive business including bringing in a strategic investor to turn the business around, sources close to the matter said.

Sony Corp sold about 250,000 units of the new version of the PlayStation Portable in Japan in the four days since its launch, a game magazine publisher said on Wednesday, roughly matching total Japanese sales of the original PSP in the two months through August.

Top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill said on Wednesday North Korea could move ahead to "disable" its nuclear arms programmes by the end of this year, adding it was important to remain focused.

Toshiba Corp, Canon Inc and 30 to 40 other Japanese firms will team up to develop biochips, seeking new revenues in a market currently dominated by U.S. firms.

Sharp Corp said it would launch a Blu-ray high-definition DVD recorder with a 1-terabyte hard disk drive (HDD), the world's largest storage capacity on any Blu-ray recorder, as it competes with the HD DVD camp. Sharp, along with Sony Corp and Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, promotes Blu-ray optical disc technology, while Toshiba Corp and Microsoft Corp back the rival HD DVD format.

Russia unveiled its first all-new airliner since the fall of the Soviet Union on Wednesday, hoping to curb dependence on oil and gas exports and restore pride in its teetering aviation industry.

Japan's new prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, won nearly 60 percent support in the first public opinion poll published since the seasoned moderate took office, double that of his predecessor.

The asset manager of Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis said on Tuesday it would buy a Tokyo-based asset managing firm wholly owned by Germany's Commerzbank to expand its operations in Japan.

Japan's parliament on Tuesday installed Yasuo Fukuda as the new prime minister of the world's second largest economy, setting the stage for the seasoned moderate to form a cabinet that must confront a feisty opposition keen to force an election.

Yasuo Fukuda, a seasoned moderate lawmaker, was chosen Japan's prime minister on Tuesday, then tapped veteran ministers from his predecessor's cabinet to confront a resurgent opposition keen to force an election.

Privately held Revenue Science will offer behaviorally targeted advertising services on Internet-browsing cell phones in Japan, entering a new field for sending commercials based on a consumer's Web habits.

Japan's prime minister-to-be, Yasuo Fukuda, named his party lieutenants on Monday as he braced for a showdown with a combative opposition amid calls for early elections after a disastrous year for the ruling coalition.