Tokyo  - Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko Monday hosted a welcoming ceremony for visiting Spanish King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia at Tokyo's Imperial Palace.

Tokyo  - Japan's foreign reserves totaled 977.72 billion dollars in October, down 18.17 billion dollars from the previous month, the Finance Ministry said Monday.

Japan held 853.02 billion dollars in foreign securities and 102.05 billion dollars in foreign currency deposits at the end of October.

Foreign reserves shrank as Japan's euro-based assets declined as the currency's value fell against the dollar, amid spreading fear over the global financial crisis, Japanese media said.

Tokyo - Japan's key machinery orders recorded the largest fall since 1998 during the July-September period, a government report said Monday.

The key machinery orders fell 10.4 per cent during the three months compared to the previous quarter, indicating that the corporate capital spending has been weakening, the Cabinet Office said.

The core orders, which exclude those for ships and power equipment, amounted to 2.88 trillion yen (29.32 billion dollars).

Tokyo  - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average Monday crossed the 9,000-point threshold, ending morning trading up more than 5 per cent thanks to a strong rally on the US market before the weekend.

The Nikkei index surged 470.9 points, or 5.49 per cent, to 9,053.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 36.52 points, or 4.15 per cent, to 915.52.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 98.97-99.02 yen, up from Friday's 5 pm quote of 97.58-60 yen.

Japan's Pa

Tokyo  - Japanese electronics companies Panasonic Corp and Sanyo Electric Co began negotiations Friday on a capital and business partnership.

The two companies plan to settle the talks by the end of December for Panasonic to undertake a tender offer in January to acquire a majority of shares in Sanyo and make it a subsidiary in April.

If the merger is successful, Panasonic would become Japan's largest electronics manufacturer.

Panasonic hopes to secure a basic agreement with Sanyo's three shareholders - Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the Daiwa Securities SMBC group and the Goldman Sachs group.