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.

Kabul - More than 500 Afghan police and villagers in eastern Afghanistan resumed the search on Wednesday morning for a kidnapped Japanese aid worker, who was abducted by four armed men the previous day, police said.

Kazuya Ito, 31, an employee of Peshawar-Kai, a Japanese aid group, along with his Afghan driver was kidnapped in Khewa district of eastern Nangahar province on Tuesday morning as he was on his way to inspect an ongoing irrigation project in the area.

The driver was released hours later and confirmed Ito was alive. Hundreds of police and villagers started to search for him in the mountains between Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province, but ended their search at nightfall.

Tokyo - Japan's Mitsubishi Electric plans to triple its production capacity for high-efficiency solar cells by 2012, investing over 10 billion yen (91 million dollars), the economic daily Nikkei reported Wednesday.

The electronics company was responding to growing demand for renewable energy, triggered by high oil prices and concern over global warming.

Tokyo - Japanese shares were slightly lower in thin trading Wednesday following mixed trading on Wall Street overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 14.70 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 12,764.01.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 3.54 points, or 0.29 per cent, at 1,225.81.

The Tokyo players sold issues mainly in consumer finance, retail and the banking sector.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 109.55-58 yen, down from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 109.82-83 yen.

Kabul- A Japanese aid worker along with his Afghan driver were kidnapped in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Tuesday morning, police said.

"The two men's vehicle was stopped by a group of unknown gunmen in Badyalai village in Khewa district," a police official who did not want to be named, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"The Japanese aid worker and his driver were dragged out of their vehicle and were taken to an unknown location," the source said.