Tokyo - Japan's industrial production fell for the first time in two months as the auto industry had weak output, the government said Wednesday.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened higher Wednesday on Wall Street's overnight rebound and a weaker yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 156.26 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 13,315.71.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 13.13 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 1,294.77.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 108.06-09 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 107.55-58 yen. A weaker yen helps boost Japanese firms' earnings overseas.

Tokyo- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co saw a record net profit in the April-June period on increases in its overseas sales, mainly flat-panel televisions, the company said Tuesday.

The Japanese home electronics company saw its net profit rise 85.8 per cent in the three months through June 30 from the same period last year to a record 73.03 billion yen (678.06 million dollars).

Matsushita also attributed the sharp profit increase to the cost-cutting efforts, which more than offset negative factors such as the yen's rise and surging materials costs, the company said.

Tokyo - Japan's automakers posted declines in domestic sales and increases in exports in the first six months of 2008, attributing the falls to surging oil prices and stronger exports to rising demand in other Asian nations, mainly China.

Toyota Motor Corp and its subsidiaries, Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, saw a 1.7-per-cent drop in sales in Japan in the January-June period to 1.18 million units, compared with the same period last year.

The company's exports, however, grew 3.6 per cent to 1.47 million units.

Its global production rose 5.8 per cent to 4.98 million units.

Tokyo - Sony Corp on Tuesday reported a net profit fall of 47.4 per cent in the April-June period to 34.98 billion yen (324.78 million dollars) compared with the same period last year.

Sony's net profit decline was attributed mainly to the yen's advance against the US dollar and the lack of blockbuster hit movies in its filmmaking division.

The company's operating profit for the April-June quarter fell 39.5 per cent to 73.44 billion yen, while sales were up 0.1 per cent to 1.98 trillion yen.

Tokyo - Toshiba Corp posted an operating loss for the first quarter through June 30, mainly due to sluggish sales in its flash memory business, the company said Tuesday.