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Kyodo economic news summary -2-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TOKYO, Jan. 16_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Dollar rises to lower 90 yen level on optimism for U.S. stimulus package TOKYO - The U.S. dollar rose to the lower 90 yen level Friday morning in Tokyo as an additional U.S. economic stimulus plan improved investor sentiment for the currency. At noon, the dollar fetched 90.05-10 yen versus 89.79-89 yen in New York and 89.07-09 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday. ---------- Mitsui & Co. to promote senior managing director Iijima as president TOKYO - Mitsui & Co. said Friday it will promote Senior Executive Managing Officer Masami Iijima as president on April 1, succeeding Shoei Utsuda. Utsuda, 65, will become chairman and the current chairman, Nobuo Ohashi, 70, will step down to serve as director from April and will then become adviser following a general shareholders meeting scheduled for June, the trading house said. ---------- Int'l cooperation eyed to reduce CO2 emissions in transport sector TOKYO - Transport ministers from 21 countries ended their three-day meeting in Tokyo and adopted a joint declaration calling for international cooperation and technical assistance to developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. The declaration said both developing and developed countries need to cut carbon dioxide emissions and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases from aircraft and ships in accordance with their reduction capabilities. ---------- Renesas Technology to shed regular workers through early retirement TOKYO - Renesas Technology Corp. is in talks with its employees union to introduce an early retirement program so to let go of some of its regular workers, company officials said Friday. The planned cutback by the major semiconductor maker, a joint venture of Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp., will likely amount to 300 workers, sources close to the matter said. ---------- Tokyo stocks rise on Wall Street rebound, weaker yen TOKYO - Tokyo stocks rose Friday morning after the previous day's sell-off, with investors heartened by an overnight rebound on Wall Street due to hope for U.S. economic stimulus measures and by the U.S. dollar's strength relative to the yen. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 101.62 points, or 1.27 percent, from Thursday to 8,124.93. The gains came after the Nikkei index traded at one time below the 8,000 line Thursday. ---------- Key 10-year JGB yield rises in morning TOKYO - The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond rose Friday morning as the bond drew selling after a rebound in Japanese and U.S. stocks. In interdealer trading, the yield on the No. 298, 1.3 percent issue gained 0.015 percentage point from Thursday's close to 1.220 percent. ---------- Mizuho to reshuffle top managers at holding firm, group banks TOKYO - Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said Friday it will reshuffle top managers at the holding company and two key group banks, Mizuho Corporate Bank and Mizuho Bank, in April in the first such simultaneous management change since April 2002. Under the plan, Mizuho Financial's Deputy President Takashi Tsukamoto, 58, will succeed current President Terunobu Maeda, 64, and Mizuho Corporate Bank's Deputy President Yasuhiro Sato, 56, will succeed current President Hiroshi Saito, 64. ---------- BOJ frets over corporate finance as environment 'getting severe' TOKYO - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa reiterated his strong concerns Friday about recent deterioration in corporate debt markets, saying the country's financial conditions are "rapidly getting severe" amid the global financial turmoil. Speaking at a quarterly meeting of the central bank's branch managers, Shirakawa said that given the fallout from the credit crisis, Japanese companies have faced difficulty raising operating capital in commercial paper and other debt markets before the approaching end of fiscal 2008 through March, when demand for cash is expected to become stronger. ---------- Weekend, holiday expressway tolls to be 1,000 yen for unlimited travel TOKYO - Motorists can travel expressways in most of Japan with a maximum toll of 1,000 yen for an unlimited distance on weekends and national holidays, the nation's six major highway operators and the transport ministry said Thursday. The discount will be valid for two years after the passage of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 that earmarks 500 billion yen for the step, according to the highway operators and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. ---------- GM expects 20% drop in industry-wide new car sales in U.S. in 2009 NEW YORK - General Motors Corp. said Thursday industry-wide new vehicle sales in the United States in 2009 are expected to drop about 20 percent from the previous year to 10.5 million units, the lowest since 1982, due to the deep recession. The projected U.S. new car market for the current year represents a shrinkage of 5.65 million units from 16.15 million units sold there in 2007. Copyright ? 2009 Kyodo News International, Inc. |