Tokyo - Tokyo stocks ended lower Wednesday on Wall Street's overnight losses and slumping commodity prices.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 113.79 points, or 1.29 per cent, to close at 8,695.51, with shares of commodity companies among the biggest losers of the day.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 14.13 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 875.23.

On currency markets at midday (0300 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 97.78-83 yen, up from Tuesday's 5 pm quote of 97.64-65 yen.

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Tokyo, Nov. 11 : The North Korean Government has warned Japan that it could order its military forces to stop and board Japanese ships operating in the Sea of Japan or shadow military or civilian aircraft close to its territory if Tokyo steps up its sanctions against Pyongyang.

Tokyo - Japanese chemical company Mitsubishi Rayon Co decided on Tuesday to buy Britain's Lucite International Group Ltd, which holds the world's largest share in the acrylic monomers market, the Japanese company said.

If the tender offer is completed, Lucite would become Mitsubishi Rayon's subsidiary.

Mitsubishi Rayon, which is the fourth largest firm in the market, is offering 1.6 billion dollars to buy all outstanding shares of Lucite to expand its business as the world's leading company for acrylic monomer.

The Japanese firm, which has suffered a slowing demand for acrylic fibers for clothing, hopes to expand its foothold in the acrylics monomers sector, it said.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks ended Tuesday trading lower after the US market declined overnight on grim earnings outlooks and the yen's advance against other currencies.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 272.13 points, or 3 per cent, to close at 8,809.3.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also dropped 27.29 points, or 2.98 per cent, to 889.36.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, technology giant Google Inc and automaker General Motors Corp all suffered downgraded outlooks the day before.

Tokyo  - Naoko Yamazaki was selected to become the first mother and the second Japanese woman to travel into space, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Tuesday.

Yamazaki, 37, was chosen to board the US space shuttle Atlantis on a planned two-week mission in February 2010 to transport components to add on to the International Space Station, where Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi is to stay for six months starting around November next year.

"I would like to have a successful mission by fully demonstrating the result of training," Yamazaki said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Yamazaki's 6-year-old daughter, Yuki, had congratulated her mother for being chosen for the mission, she added.