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.

Tokyo - Stocks plunged more than 2 per cent in Tokyo Tuesday after Wall Street sharply fell overnight on renewed worries about the US financial market.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 287.34 points, or 2.15 per cent, to 13,066.44.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 30.42 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 1,270.37.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 107.43-46 yen, down from Monday's 5 pm quote of 107.73-76 yen.

Tokyo - Japan's unemployment rate stood at 4.1 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in June, up 0.1 point from the previous month, the government said Tuesday.

Some 2.65 million people were jobless in the reporting month, up 240,000 from a year before, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a preliminary report.

There were 91 jobs available for every 100 job seekers in June.

Tokyo - Toyota Motor Corp said Monday that it has revised downward its global sales projection for 2008 by 350,000 units to 9.5 million.

Japan's top automaker revised the projection to 9.5 million from an initial target of 9.85 million due to a sales decline in the United States.

The Toyota's figure includes sales of Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd.