Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks rose upon opening Thursday after the Federal Reserve said it would buy more than 1 trillion dollars in bonds, but they ended the morning session lower as the US central bank's move caused the dollar to fall against the yen, hitting exporters' shares.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average temporarily rose above 8,000 before falling 49.28 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 7,922.89.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also dropped 0.9 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 763.77.

Washington - Astronauts were steering a new solar panel into place using robotic arms on Wednesday ahead of a spacewalk to install the segment aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The panel is part of a truss segment that will complete the backbone of the station and boost its energy capacity, allowing the crew size to double to six astronauts.

Tokyo - Young Japanese animation artists are hit hard by the global economic crisis, despite growing international interest in animated movies from the country, an industry representative said Wednesday.

"Many cannot find the financial means to create their own works. Some do not have a business future," said Kei Shozuzawa of THINK Corporation, a Japanise animation company at the outset of the Tokyo International Anime Fair, one of the world's largest animation industry events.

Tokyo  - Japan's central bank on Wednesday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.1 per cent but decided to step up its purchases of government debt.

The Bank of Japan is to increase its monthly purchases of long-term government debt from 1.4 trillion yen (14.21 billion dollars) to 1.8 trillion yen to inject liquidity into money markets and prevent the rise of long-term interest rates.

Washington  - The space shuttle Discovery was nearing the International Space Station for a planned docking later Tuesday.

The Discovery is to deliver the fourth and final solar panel to the International Space Station on a construction mission that will enable it to double the size of its crew to six astronauts. Three spacewalks are planned to install the solar panels and conduct other construction projects.

The mission will also deliver Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is slated to join the permanent crew on the orbiting space station.