Tokyo  - Nomura Holdings Inc, Japan's largest brokerage house, was hit hard by the global financial crisis, reporting losses of 149.4 billion yen (1.57 billion dollars) for the first half of the business year on Tuesday.

During the same period last year, Nomura posted profits of 64.2 billion yen. Japan's business year ends on March 31.

It was the third quarterly loss for the company, which took over the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and European operations of failed US brokerage Lehman Brothers last month.

In the quarter from July to September, Nomura's reported net loss widened to 72.9 billion yen, compared with a net loss of 11.7 billion yen the previous year.

Tokyo  - Honda Motor Co lowered its net profit projection for the full year through March 31 due to a stronger yen and decline in sales, the company said Tuesday.

Japan's second-largest car maker by sales revised downward its net profit projection to 485 billion yen (5.1 billion dollars) from an initial figure of 490 billion yen because of the rising yen value and slow sales in North America.

Honda reduced its forecast for operating profit to 550 billion yen from an earlier projection of 630 billion yen.

The company expected sales to drop to 11.6 trillion yen from 12.13 trillion yen it estimated in July, it said.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks rebounded Tuesday from a 26-year low as the yen fell against the dollar and euro, investors hunted for bargains and the government instituted new restrictions on short selling.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 459.02 points, or 6.41 per cent, to close at 7,621.92, nearly erasing all of its 486.18-point loss from Monday.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also was up 37.57 points, or 5.03 per cent, at 784.03.

The gains ended a four-day losing streak, which wiped out nearly a quarter of the Nikkei's value.

The day began on a sour note, as the Nikkei briefly dropped below 7,000, but investors returned to the market to buy up stocks trading at historic lows.

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 was launched on Sunday. According to Dell, Inspiron 12 will be available in the U.S. by mid- November.

Inspiron Mini 12 is the first notebook that has a 12 – inch screen. The newest model from Dell with competer with 10 inches notebooks by Lenovo, IdeaPAd S10 and MSI Wind. The resolution of the screen would be 1,280 by 800. It is shaped like a wedge, 9 by 11.8 by 0.92 inches.

Tokyo  - Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived in Tokyo la

Tokyo  - Asian markets plummeted to new lows Monday, with trading halted at several stock exchanges, as investors across the region stepped up panic-selling on concerns that tumbling share values would drag economies into recession.

Stocks in Tokyo nosedived, as the benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 486.18 points, or 6.36 per cent, to close at 7,162.9, the lowest level in 26 years. The market crisis has shaved off half the value off the Nikkei this year.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also lost 59.65 points, or 7.4 per cent, to 746.46.

The Bank of Japan injected 600 billion yen (6.37 billion dollars) into the money markets Monday to ease a credit crunch as stocks prices plunged.