Tokyo - Stocks rose more than 2 per cent Friday as the Tokyo market sentiment improved thanks to overnight gains on Wall Street and Japan's July industrial output data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 279.37 points, or 2.19 per cent, to 13,047.62.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 27.96 points, or 2.29 per cent, to 1,247.49.

Japanese industrial production in July grew 0.9 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms, compared to the previous month, the government said Friday.

Berlin - Japanese electronics group Sharp forecast Thursday that annual world demand for LCD flat-panel televisions would burst through the 100-million barrier some time this year.

At a news conference on the eve of the IFA consumer-electronics fair in Berlin, Sharp also boasted its thinnest flat-panel yet, with the thinnest part of the device just 22 millimetres from front to back, or less than on inch. The thickest part was just two inches.

Tokyo - Japan's financial sector has been plagued by a series of bankruptcies of real-estate firms, giving rise to worries about Japan's economic outlook and having an impact Thursday on the stock

Tokyo - Japan's leading carmaker Toyota Motor Corp expects sales in 2009 to drop, owing to weak demand from North America, the company said Thursday.

Toyota lowered its global sales prognosis from 10.4 million units to 9.7 million units for next year, delaying the company's goal to become the world's first carmaker to sell more than 10 million units per year.

Tokyo - Japanese shares were slightly higher Thursday following gains on Wall Street overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 7.04 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 12,760.00.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 3.28 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 1,220.41.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.40-45 yen, up from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 109.01-02 yen.

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's leading carmaker, expects to sell fewer cars in 2009, owing to weak demand from North America, a Japanese news agency said Wednesday.

Toyota on Thursday was to lower its global sales prognosis from 10.4 million units to 9.7 million units for next year, Jiji Press reported, citing informed sources.