Tokyo - Fuji Heavy Industries said on Friday it expected to incur its first loss in 15 years due to the yen's advance and declining auto sales amid the slowdown of the global economy.

The automaker of the Subaru brand was to suffer a net loss of 19 billion yen (213.12 million dollars) for fiscal year 2008 that ends in March, compared to an earlier projection of 10 billion yen in profit.

Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co plans to shift production of its March subcompact car to Thailand as a way to reduce cost amid the business slowdown, a Japanese business daily said Friday.

Nissan would be the first Japanese automaker to transfer production of a top-selling car to overseas operations.

The Japanese automaker was expected to incur an operating loss for the 2008-09 fiscal year that ends March 31 due to the slowdown of global car sales and a stronger yen.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday on the back of an overnight rebound in the US market and a weaker yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, which lost nearly 5 per cent the previous day, advanced 101.62 points, or 1.27 per cent, to 8,124.93 in early trading.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues was also up 9.54 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 805.53.

On the currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 89.94-99 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 89.07-09 yen.

London, Jan 15 : In pursuit of comfort amid the ongoing credit crunch, Japanese residents are increasingly turning to stress-relieving pet robots, which resemble real pet cats and dogs.

Made by Sega Toys Co, the Dream Pet range of robotic domestic animals is especially designed to replicate the appearance and behaviour of pet cats and dogs.

The sales of the toys rose 30 per cent between October and December last year, as compared to the same months the previous year.

Tokyo - Nissan Motor Co was expected to incur an operating loss for the 2008-09 fiscal year that ends March 31 due to the slowdown of global car sales and a stronger yen, Japanese media reports said Thursday.

Nissan would log the first operating loss since Carlos Ghosn became the company's chief operating officer in 1999, when the company formed a business partnership with France's Renault SA.

The Japanese automaker lowered its projection for the year's operating profit from 550 billion yen (6.16 billion dollars) to 270 billion yen in October.

Tokyo - Sanyo Electric Co lowered its projections for operating profit and sales for the fiscal year 2008 that ends in March owing to the yen's advance and declining sales of electronics parts and semiconductors, the company said Thursday.

The Japanese home electronics maker revised downward its operating profit to 30 billion yen (335.78 million dollars) from an earlier projection of 50 billion yen.

Sanyo revised sales down to 1.9 trillion yen from 2.02 trillion yen.