JAPAN

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co Ltd is targeting 70 percent growth in sales and a doubling in profit over four years as demand for earth-moving equipment booms in China, India and Russia, its CEO said.

Shares of Sony Corp jumped on Wednesday after the electronics conglomerate said it would list shares of its financial arm on the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month after raising up to $3 billion in an initial public offering to fund its core electronics business.

U.S. President George W. Bush says nuclear power is a key to tackling climate change, along with new energy technologies, but green groups want Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Sydney to commit to greenhouse gas reduction targets.

HSBC Holdings Plc's Chinese fund arm aims to launch two new funds over the next year amid feverish demand for asset management services fuelled by a bullish local stock market, the venture's head said on Tuesday.

Boeing Co said on Tuesday China will remain its top market outside the United States for the next 20 years, as it vies with arch rival Airbus to supply the country's booming airline industry.

Bayer Schering Pharma, the drug business of Germany's Bayer AG, expects its revenues in Asia to rise by around 17 percent to more than 1.9 billion euros.

Companies showed signs of shrugging off the caution that has enveloped the world economy since a credit crisis broke, as investors looked on Tuesday to U.S. data to gauge the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut.

The Nikkei average lost 0.6 percent on Tuesday on caution ahead of a wave of U.S. economic data, while clothing company Fast Retailing Co Ltd extended its slide after announcing further acquisition plans.

Usually derided as teetering on the tip of irrelevance, this year's Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney hopes to rise above its reputation for glacial action and have a real impact on the course of climate change. Leaders gathered for the meeting hope to build on June's G8 summit, in which nations agreed to consider a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050 and build momentum ahead of a U.N. climate change meeting later this month.

Plasma television technology has a bright future despite an onslaught on its home turf from rival LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, makers of plasma screens told Reuters at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin.

President George W. Bush hopes to spur momentum for a world trade pact and a global target on climate change at this week's APEC summit in Sydney, but host Australia has warned not to expect binding greenhouse targets. The Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit will draw 21 leaders including Bush.

Nintendo Co Ltd's video game console Wii outsold Sony Corp's PlayStation 3 by a ratio of three to one in Japan in August, but Nintendo's overwhelming lead in the market narrowed for the second consecutive month.

Japanese stocks slid on Monday as investors wary of credit woes sold some financial stocks following Friday's rises, while an unexpected drop in capital spending data put a lid on the overall market.

Asian stock markets took a breather on Monday with Tokyo's Nikkei slipping on fresh concerns about the economy, and the yen traded in a small range in a session likely to be dulled by the U.S. Labor Day holiday.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it expects its group's worldwide sales to expand to 10.4 million vehicles in 2009, up 18 percent from last year, as it grabs a bigger share in mature markets and taps growing demand in China and other emerging countries.

Japanese ADSL provider Acca Networks Co Ltd signed up NTT DoCoMo Inc to its WiMAX joint venture, tapping the mobile phone giant's resources to launch ultra high-speed wireless Internet access.

Sweden's IKEA said on Friday the contribution from Asia-Pacific to the group's total sales could triple to 10 percent in 5 to 6 years, creating a huge challenge for the world's largest furniture retailer.

Baidu, known as China's Google, still intends to seek a domestic listing but is focusing for now on ramping up a fledgling Japanese service with plans to hire dozens of people in the second half.

The Nikkei rose 2.6 percent on Friday as news that President George W. Bush will outline reforms to help homeowners with subprime mortgages sparked broad-based buying, and Dell Inc's earnings lifted high-tech stocks.

World stocks surged on Friday on hopes the U.S. government and central bank will act to alleviate a crisis in subprime, or poor credit quality, U.S. mortgages and ease a global bank lending squeeze the problem has triggered.

China has found microscopic worms in wooden packaging from the United States and uncovered substandard U.S. vitamin pills and fish oil for children, Chinese media said on Friday in the latest volley of cross-border accusations.