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Kyodo economic news summary -2-+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 15_(Kyodo) _ ---------- Tokyo stocks rise in morning tracking U.S. shares' surges
TOKYO - Tokyo stocks rebounded Wednesday morning, tracking strong overnight gains in U.S. shares that sent the Dow index to close at its highest level since June 2001.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 78.50 points, or 0.48 percent, in the morning, to 16,316.86. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 2.80 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,668.59.
---------- Electric goods discount chain Doi to wind up business
FUKUOKA - The once-buoyant electrical appliance discount chain operator Doi has started court-supervised bankruptcy procedures for winding up its business operations, the court-appointed administrator for the company said Wednesday.
The Tokyo District Court authorized Doi, which once ran a network of "Kamera-no Doi" stores in Tokyo and other cities, to start the procedures on March 8, the administrator said.
---------- Key 10-year gov't bond yield hits 19-month high in morning
TOKYO - The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond rose to its highest intraday level in 19 months Wednesday morning on expectations for an early end to the Bank of Japan's zero interest rate policy.
In interdealer trading, the yield on the No. 277 1.6 percent issue added 0.025 percentage point from Tuesday's close to end the morning at 1.700 percent.
---------- Tanigaki tells OECD chief of his desire to raise consumption tax
TOKYO - Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Wednesday that he wants the consumption tax to "play a greater role" in Japan's bid to restore the nation's fiscal health, repeating his desire to hike the consumption tax as early as fiscal 2007.
Tanigaki made the remark at a meeting in Tokyo with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary General Donald Johnston, who argued Japan's 5 percent consumption tax rate is the lowest among the OECD's 30 members excluding the United States, which does not have the sales tax at a federal level.
---------- Christie's closes Australian auction houses
SYDNEY - Prestigious global auction house Christie's is closing down its Australian operations to focus on better opportunities in Asia, International Managing Director Lisa King announced Wednesday.
A fine art auction on April 10 in Melbourne will be its last scheduled sale.
---------- Authorities inspect condo sold by Huser over faked quake-proof data
TOKYO - Investigative authorities on Wednesday inspected a condominium sold by Huser Ltd., a property developer at the center of a building structure-data fabrication scandal, with a view to establishing a case involving building standards law violations.
Grand Stage Fujisawa in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, which has the lowest earthquake-resistance strength among the buildings designed with substandard data by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha, who has been stripped of his license, is the first building sold by Huser to be inspected over the scandal.
---------- Isuzu Motors unit raided for allegedly tampering with buses
TOKYO - Police raided an Isuzu Motors Ltd. subsidiary Wednesday on suspicion that it illegally obtained vehicle inspection certificates for 10 tour buses after tampering with the vehicles.
Tokyo Isuzu Motors Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the carmaker, is alleged to have removed in August last year some components for the buses to be delivered to tour operator Hato Bus Co. because their weights had exceeded the legal limit after installing some interior equipment such as TVs and refrigerators.
---------- Japan's 55th commercial nuclear reactor starts operation
KANAZAWA, Japan - Hokuriku Electric Power Co.'s No. 2 reactor at the Shiga nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, which is Japan's 55th commercial reactor, started operating on Wednesday morning after passing final inspections by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
The 1,358-megawatt upgraded boiling-water reactor has been undergoing a test run and is the first new reactor to start operating since Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s No. 1 reactor at the Higashidori nuclear plant in Aomori Prefecture began operating in December.
---------- Dollar remains weak, mostly at mid-117 yen in Tokyo morning deals
TOKYO - The U.S. dollar stayed mostly in the middle of 117 yen Wednesday morning in Tokyo, remaining weak on concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates as much as initially expected.
At noon, the dollar was quoted at 117.59-61 yen, compared with its 5 p.m. Tuesday quotes of 117.55-65 yen in New York and 118.59-61 yen in Tokyo. During the morning, it moved between 117.35 yen and 117.77 yen.
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