Tokyo - Tokyo stocks surged nearly 8 per cent Wednesday, on the back of Wall Street's overnight rally and the dollar's advance against the yen, sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average above 8,000.

The Nikkei rose 589.98 points, or 7.74 per cent, to end at 8,211.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 46.29 points, or 5.9 per cent, at 830.32.

The Tokyo market sentiment was buoyed also by speculations that the Bank of Japan is considering an interest-rate cut to help stabilize the market.

Tokyo - Japan's industrial output rose 1.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in September, compared to the previous month, the government said Wednesday.

The September growth was supported by automobile, machinery and electronics device sectors, but the government downgraded its assessment, estimating overseas demand for Japanese products would slowdown amid the global financial crisis.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expected the output to fall 2.3 per cent in October and 2.2 per cent in November.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average continued to rise in early trading Wednesday, again topping the 8,000 mark.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average recovered the 8,000 level Wednesday morning after it hit a 26-year low the day before.

Tokyo  - Britain's Prince Charles on Tuesday called for concerted efforts to build a low-carbon society to combat global warming while on a visit to Japan.

"We must not abandon the drive towards a low-carbon economy," the prince of Wales said in a speech marking the 150th anniversary of bilateral relations between Japan and Britain.

He arrived in Tokyo late Monday with his wife, Camilla, for a five-day visit.

The prince called climate change "the biggest challenge our planet has ever seen."

He said that even as the world now faces a financial crisis, it should not divert attention and efforts from protecting the earth.

Tokyo  - Panasonic Corp on Tuesday reported the highest net profit in 23 years for the first six months of a business year, thanks to strong sales of digital consumer electronics.

The company, which changed its name from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co earlier this month, saw net profit rise by 22.2 per cent during the first six months of fiscal 2008 to 128.49 billion yen (1.38 billion dollars), compared to the year before.

The Japanese home electronics company logged an operating profit of 228.15 billion yen, up 3.7 per cent year-on-year for the first half of the business year starting in April.