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Osamu Suzuki, who grew small-car specialist Suzuki Motor into an international brand with huge successes in India, died Wednesday at age 94 after bouts with cancer, the company said Friday.Under the charismatic businessman’s four-decade leadership through 2021, the firm’s sales grew more than 10-fold.Born on January 30, 1930, in the central Japanese region of Gifu, he married into the firm’s founding family and later became its president in 1978.Calling himself an “old man at a small business,” he focused on building light-weight “kei” vehicles, many of which became big hits for their fuel efficiency and easy-to-handle quality.He also actively sought international partners and opportunities overseas to expand his business.The carmaker once tied up with General Motors and Volkswagen and also forged a capital alliance with Toyota in 2019.He expanded in India, where the company’s subsidiary now occupies the top market position.When he retired as the firm’s chairman in 2021, the company’s sales stood at 3.18 trillion yen ($20 billion). When he took over the company in 1978, the firm’s sales stood at 323 billion yen, according to the Nikkei Shimbun business daily.

Asian markets mostly rose on Friday, with Japanese shares gaining on a weaker yen, although Seoul shares plunged as South Korea’s political crisis deepened with a second impeachment vote.Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.8 percent, with the yen’s recent weakness proving a boon for major exporters. The yen hit 158.08 per US dollar on Thursday evening — its lowest in almost six months — before rebounding somewhat on Friday.In Seoul, the market closed down by 1.02 percent after the won plunged to a 16-year low of 1,480.20 per US dollar on Friday morning.South Korea is struggling to emerge from political turbulence in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration this month, which prompted his impeachment.Acting President Han Duck-soo was also impeached Friday in a vote that prompted ruling party lawmakers to protest with angry chants and raised fists.South Korea’s business outlook for January fell 7.3 points to 82.4 in the Bank of Korea’s composite sentiment index, marking the biggest month-on-month slide since April 2020, according to data released Friday. The survey of almost 3,300 firms was conducted between December 11 and 18.In Japan, the yen was “marginally stronger” on Friday, Bloomberg reported, after data showed inflation in Tokyo rose for a second month in December.Other positive figures from Japan showed industrial production declined less than expected in November, while retail sales came in higher than estimated last month.With the country’s unemployment rate holding at 2.5 percent in November — low by international standards but slightly above Japan’s pre-Covid 19 pandemic average — Moody’s Analytics said on Friday that the data confirmed their view that “employment conditions are wobbly”.Investor attention is now focused “on whether the Nikkei average will expand its rise to recover to the 40,000 points range by the end of the year”, said Kosuke Oka, an analyst at Monex Securities.Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda bewildered observers last week by suggesting a prolonged pause in the institution’s monetary policy tightening, in the face of domestic and international economic uncertainties, which had sent the Japanese currency tumbling.Ueda said on Wednesday rates would be “adjusted” if the situation continued to improve on the economic and price fronts, leaving investors without a clear signal on a possible interest rate hike and contributing to the yen’s slide.”With the calendar year winding down and little in the way of tier-one economic data, the market is content mainly to drift until something shakes it from its slumber — likely a late-year squeeze or perhaps a Trump-driven shift in global economic sentiment,” said Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management, ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump retaking the White House in January.In Asia, Shanghai, Mumbai, Malaysia, Taipei, Singapore, Sydney and Bangkok were all in the green. Hong Kong was flat, while Manila was down.London was down while Frankfurt and Paris were both up in early European trade.- Key figures around 0800 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 40,281.16 pointsHang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 20,116.93Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,400.14Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0419 from $1.0409Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2532 from $1.2521Dollar/yen: UP at 157.80 yen from 157.59 yenEuro/pound: FLAT at 83.14 pence from 83.14 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP at $69.80 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP at $73.40 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,325.80 (close)

The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico’s luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW.According to industry experts, Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price.It is no small feat in a country home to factories of foreign brands such as Audi and BMW, and where until a few years ago imported Chinese cars were stigmatized, as in other parts of the world.According to the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), the high-end segment of the market registered a sales drop of 8.1 percent from January to November.Audi’s sales slumped by 21.9 percent, while BMW, which includes the Mini brand, saw no growth in Latin America’s second-largest economy, home to 129 million people.Mercedes-Benz suffered a 9.8 percent decline, according to the state-run statistics institute INEGI.In contrast, Motornation, which sells the BAIC, JMC and Changan brands in Mexico, saw an 8.8 percent increase in sales in the first 11 months of this year, while those of Jetour rose 131 percent, it said.Chinese firms now control 9.3 percent of the Mexican market, according to the AMDA.They have brought stiff competition to the pickup truck segment, with many of the features of high-end models offered by premium brands, the association’s president Guillermo Rosales told AFP.Traditionally, the premium segment included sedan-type vehicles with luxury engines and top-of-the-range features.However, over the past decade consumer preferences have shifted toward utility vehicles such as pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs.Asian brands also benefited from an exemption from import tariffs on electric vehicles that was in effect in Mexico from 2020 until October 1.- ‘Simple arithmetic’ -As in other Latin American countries, Mexicans are becoming more used to seeing Chinese brands on the streets that were unknown to them until about five years ago.Miguel Reyes, a 71-year-old retiree, said that choosing a Chinese car over others was “simple arithmetic.””I needed a car that had the necessary technology, such as steering assist, to make driving safer,” Reyes said.As well as the design and comfort, the “competitive” price was another factor, said Reyes, who paid around 550,000 pesos — roughly $27,000 dollars.A similar model from a traditional brand would have cost him between $40,000 and $50,000, he said.According to Gerardo Gomez, an expert at the data and analytics company J.D. Power, there are around 30 Chinese brands in Mexico, with vehicles ranging from compacts to luxury cars. “They can offer you anything at any point in the range.”BYD offers an electric pickup truck for more than a million pesos ($50,000) but also a compact car for $17,000.Zeekr, a premium electric brand, sells luxury models for around $40,000.- Trump tensions – Chinese cars’ growing presence in Mexico, which is itself a major exporter of vehicles, comes at a time when China is a source of contention between the United States, Mexico and Canada, partners in a regional free trade agreement.During his campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump suggested that China was building car factories in Mexico to sell vehicles in the United States.Canadian officials have accused Mexico of being a springboard for Chinese products in the region — a claim denied by Mexican authorities.Trump has also threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on both Mexico and Canada unless they stop flows of migrants and drugs.According to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, only seven percent of the components of cars manufactured in the Latin American country are Chinese.”There’s no evidence from anywhere that proves that Mexico is being used as a springboard” for Chinese products, said Diego Marroquin, a trade policy specialist at the Wilson Center in the United States.”It’s a political narrative that comes from the United States and now from Canada.”Sheinbaum said last month that she would propose to the United States and Canada a Chinese import substitution plan, noting that in the case of Mexico alone, the trade deficit with the Asian giant amounted to $80 billion.

Japan’s government on Friday approved a record budget for the next fiscal year, ramping up spending on social welfare, as the population ages, and defence to tackle regional threats.The 115.5 trillion yen ($730 billion) budget for the year from April 2025, greenlighted by the Cabinet, includes 8.7 trillion yen in defence spending.It also includes social security spending of around 38.3 trillion yen — up from 37.7 trillion the previous year.The defence ministry said in a briefing document that Japan was facing its “toughest and most complex security environment” since World War II, repeating a warning from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.Japan has a pacifist post-war constitution, which limits its military capacity to ostensibly defensive measures.But it updated key security and defence policies in 2022, explicitly outlining the challenge posed by China, and committed to double its defence spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP by 2027.The 8.7 trillion yen approved Friday will help pay for measures to help attract recruits to Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, and to improve relations between the US and Japanese militaries with locals in Okinawa.It will also go towards a system to collect satellite information on ballistic missiles, such as those fired by North Korea, and the movement of vessels in waters around Japan, including territories disputed with China.”Strengthening our defence capabilities is something we’re actively working on,” Ishiba said at an event organised by the Yomiuri newspaper on Thursday.”Now matter how great our military tanks or vehicles are, it’s pointless if we don’t have enough people to move them,” said the prime minister, who has pledged to fix a shortage of new troops.Another challenge facing the country is its ageing population caused by chronically low birth rates and a cautious approach to immigration.Japan is one of the world’s oldest societies, and this year the proportion of its people aged 65 or over reached a record 29.3 percent.The draft budget needs to be approved by the parliament, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its smaller coalition partner Komeito will need cooperation from opposition parties, having lost their majority in an October snap election.Ishiba has stayed on as prime minister despite leading the coalition to its worst general election result in 15 years.A vote to elect parliament’s upper house will be held in summer 2025.

Wall Street stocks were little changed on Thursday while Asian equities rose in thin Boxing Day trade, extending their “Santa Claus Rally” with several bourses still shut for the holiday.Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.1 percent, boosted by comments from the Bank of Japan governor and share price gains for top-selling automaker Toyota.China’s plans for massive bond issuances in 2025 also bolstered investor sentiment.”Even though many in the region are still shaking off a bit of a holiday hangover, with several markets closed for Boxing Day, Asian stocks opened higher, riding a favorable wave from China’s financial bond juggernaut,” said Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management.In New York, major indices veered in and out of positive territory in a sleepy post-Christmas session. The broad-based S&P 500 finished down less than 0.1 percent.Large technology companies that have led the market in much of 2024 mostly took a breather. These included Netflix, Tesla and Amazon, all of which declined.”What’s interesting today is that we’re seeing small stocks bounce back a little bit,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers, noting that the Russell 2000 index put on 0.9 percent.Holiday consumer data showed a 3.8-percent increase in US retail spending from November 1 to December 24, according to a Mastercard SpendingPulse review of a key period for retailers.London Stockton, an analyst at Ned Davis Research, noted that the “Santa Claus rally could still be alive, with strong seasonality into the end of the year.”Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, a trend known as the “Santa Claus rally.” Among a number of possible reasons advanced by experts include the festive holiday mood and purchasing ahead of the end of the tax year.Innes said remarks from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda in which he refrained from signaling a potential interest rate hike next month also “influenced bullish regional sentiments.”Japanese market heavyweight Toyota ended nearly six percent higher after reports in the Nikkei business daily said it aimed to double its return on equity — a key measure of a company’s financial performance.Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,325.80 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 6,037.59 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.1 percent at 20,020.36 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 39,568.06 points (close)Hang Seng: UP 1.1 percent at 20,098.29 points (Tuesday close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,398.08 points (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0424 from $1.0414 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2526 from $1.2538Dollar/yen: UP at 158.00 yen from 157.06 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.19 pence from 83.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $69.62 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $73.26 per barrel

Asian stocks rose in thin Boxing Day trade on Thursday, extending a “Santa Rally” with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays.Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.1 percent, boosted by comments from the Bank of Japan governor and share price gains for top-selling automaker Toyota.China’s plans for massive bond issuances in 2025 also bolstered investor sentiment.”Even though many in the region are still shaking off a bit of a holiday hangover, with several markets closed for Boxing Day, Asian stocks opened higher, riding a favourable wave from China’s financial bond juggernaut,” said Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management.Shanghai, Bangkok and Taipei all edged up 0.1 percent, while Seoul lost 0.4 percent and Singapore shed 0.1 percent. Jakarta and Wellington were closed.London Stockton, an analyst at Ned Davis Research, noted that the “Santa Claus rally could still be alive, with strong seasonality into the end of the year”.Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, a trend known as the “Santa Claus rally”. Among a number of possible reasons advanced by experts include the festive holiday mood and purchasing ahead of the end of the tax year.Innes said remarks from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda in which he refrained from signalling a potential interest rate hike next month also “influenced bullish regional sentiments”.Japanese market heavyweight Toyota ended nearly six percent higher after reports in the Nikkei business daily said it aimed to double its return on equity — a key measure of a company’s financial performance.In thin corporate news on Thursday, Japan Airlines reported a cyberattack that caused delays to domestic and international flights and prompted a temporary halt to ticket sales.However later in the day the carrier said its systems had been restored after the “large data attack”.Markets had been closed across Europe and North America for Christmas. Dow Jones closed up 0.9 percent on the eve, while the tech-heavy S&P 500 rallied 1.1 percent.Key figures around 0745 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 39,568.06 points (close)Hang Seng: UP 1.1 percent at 20,098.29 points (Tuesday close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,398.08 points (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0397 from $1.0389 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2529 from $1.2531Dollar/yen: UP at 157.44 yen from 157.31 yenEuro/pound: UP at 82.97 pence from 82.89 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.13 percent at $70.19 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.11 percent at $73.69 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 43,297.03 (Tuesday close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8.136.99 (Tuesday close)

Japan Airlines said its systems were up and running again after a cyberattack on Thursday caused delays to domestic and international flights.”We have identified the cause and scope of the malfunction, and the system has been restored,” said the airline, Japan’s second biggest after All Nippon Airways (ANA).The “large data attack” did not leak any customer information and safety was unaffected, Japan Airlines (JAL) said in a post on social media platform X. Japanese media said it may have been a so-called DDoS attack aimed at overwhelming and disrupting a website or server.Ticket sales for domestic and international flights departing on Thursday were suspended during the incident but have now resumed, JAL said.Although the cyberattack did not cause major disruption, the airline earlier said that 24 domestic flights had been delayed by more than half an hour.Problems with the carrier’s baggage check-in system caused delays at several Japanese airports, local media said.JAL shares fell as much as 2.5 percent in morning trade after the news emerged, before recovering. Its stocks were down 0.2 percent in the afternoon.- ‘Human error’ -Separately, a transport ministry committee tasked with probing a fatal January 2024 collision involving a JAL passenger jet released an interim report on Wednesday blaming human error for the incident that killed five people.The collision at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport was with a coast guard plane carrying six crew members — of whom five were killed — that was on a mission to deliver relief supplies to a quake-hit central region of Japan.According to the report, the smaller plane’s pilot mistook an air traffic control officer’s instructions to mean authorisation had been given to enter the runway.The captain was also “in a hurry” at the time because the coast guard plane’s departure was 40 minutes behind schedule, the report said.The traffic controller failed to notice the plane had intruded onto the runway, oblivious even to an alarm system warning against its presence.All 379 people on board the JAL Airbus escaped just before the aircraft was engulfed in flames.Japan Airlines is just the latest Japanese firm to be hit by a cyberattack.The country’s space agency JAXA was targeted in 2023, although no sensitive information about rockets or satellites was accessed.The same year one of Japan’s busiest ports was hit by a ransomware attack blamed on the Russia-based Lockbit group.In 2022, a cyberattack at a Toyota supplier forced the top-selling automaker to halt operations at domestic plants.And more recently, the popular Japanese video-sharing website Niconico came under a large cyberattack in June.

New Vietnamese internet rules requiring Facebook and TikTok to verify user identities and hand over data to authorities came into force on Wednesday, in what critics say is the latest attack on freedom of expression.Under “Decree 147”, all tech giants operating in Vietnam must verify users’ accounts via their phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers and store that information alongside their full name and date of birth.They must provide that data to authorities on request and remove any content the government regards as “illegal” within 24 hours.The new rules came into force on Wednesday, state media VNExpress said.All social media sites had been given 90 days to provide data on “the total number of regular visits from Vietnam” and the number of regular users per month to authorities, the website said.”Decree 147 will be used to publicly suppress those with different viewpoints,” said activist Dang Thi Hue, who writes about politics and social issues on her Facebook account, which has 28,000 followers.The decree was “the latest sign of infringement of basic freedoms… with a vague line between what is legal and what is not,” said former political prisoner Le Anh Hung.”No one wants to go to jail, so of course some activists will be more cautious and afraid of this decree.”Vietnam’s hardline administration generally moves swiftly to stamp out dissent and arrest critics, especially those who find an audience on social media.In October, blogger Duong Van Thai — who had almost 120,000 followers on YouTube, where he regularly recorded livestreams critical of the government — was jailed for 12 years on charges of publishing anti-state information.Decree 147 builds on a 2018 cybersecurity law that was sharply criticised by the United States, European Union and internet freedom advocates who said it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.- ‘Just keep playing’ -The decree also says that only verified accounts can livestream, impacting the exploding number of people earning a living through social commerce on sites such as TikTok.Aside from the ramifications for social media firms, the new laws also include curbs on gaming for under-18s, designed to prevent addiction.Game publishers are expected to enforce a time limit of an hour per game session and not more than 180 minutes a day for all games.Just over half of Vietnam’s 100 million population regularly plays such games, says data research firm Newzoo.A large proportion of the population is also on social media, with the Ministry of Information and Communications estimating the country has around 65 million Facebook users, 60 million on YouTube and 20 million on TikTok.The force of the decree was yet to be felt at a small online gaming cafe in capital Hanoi, where around a dozen young people were glued to their desktop screens.”I don’t know anything about a time limit for the games,” said one 15-year-old boy who said he had skipped class to come and play.”I just keep playing, and as you see, it still works.” “I never have to show an ID or student card to enter a gameshop or for my game account online. I don’t know how (the decree) will work, let’s see.”The owner of the cafe, who charges around 30 cents for an hour of gaming, was similarly nonchalant.”I have no idea what this decree is about. I don’t know if it will work or not.” “My business is still going normally. They pay and we let them use the desktop for their gaming. It’s simple.”

Fuelled in part by the success of TV hit “Shogun”, foreign studios are hungry for quality Japanese content and local creators are adaptingto meet demand.Fans of Japanese manga and anime cartoons have often criticised foreign adaptations that are unfaithful to the original material.But “Shogun”, based on the 1975 novel by Australian-British writer James Clavell, broke the mould when the period drama series — mostly in Japanese and hailed for its authenticity — won 18 Emmy awards in September. Other recent Japanese works have also become worldwide hits.Franco-US-Japanese show “Drops of God”, based on a manga of the same name, won best drama series at the International Emmy Awards in November.Netflix’s 2023 adaptation of the manga superhit “One Piece” — starring Mexican actor Inaki Godoy as the lead — was hailed by viewers and critics alike and will return for a second season.More adaptations of major manga and anime hits are in the works, including the superhero adventures of “My Hero Academia” and the ninja escapades of “Naruto”.”Demand from Western markets is clearly increasing,” said Kaori Ikeda, managing director at TIFFCOM, the content trade fair affiliated with the Tokyo International Film Festival.But Japanese companies lack “know-how” when it comes to things like negotiating rights, she told AFP.So TIFFCOM has organised Tokyo Story Market, a space to facilitate networking and meetings between international producers and Japanese publishers.- ‘Whitewashing’ -Foreign studios are also getting better at avoiding some of the pitfalls of the past, such as the 2017 film version of the manga “Ghost in the Shell” starring Scarlett Johansson.Critics accused the movie, whose main actors except Takeshi Kitano were all non-Japanese, of “whitewashing”.Similarly, the 2017 supernatural thriller “Death Note” was panned for veering too far from the original manga.”Manga authors are highly respected and fan communities are very vigilant,” said Klaus Zimmermann, producer of “Drops of God”.His adaptation takes some liberties, such as starring a French actor as one of the main characters, but Zimmermann insists it was developed in collaboration with the authors of the original manga.”It was about finding the spirit of the manga so as not to distort it,” he told AFP.Yuki Takamatsu, a rights negotiator at the manga’s publishing house Kodansha, said the process of adapting “Drops of God” was “amazing”.”Everyone was open to tackling those challenges together… At every step, everyone was understanding about how we should do it,” he said.Past failures were in part down to publishers struggling to communicate their wishes to foreign producers, who in turn lacked a proper understanding of manga and anime, Takamatsu said.”Back just 15, 20 years ago, most of the enquiries we received from those big studios were like, hey, I know ‘Dragon Ball’, do you have ‘Dragon Ball’ IP?” Takamatsu told AFP.”But nowadays, especially since Covid, the producers in their 30s, 40s, they watch anime together with their kids on Netflix or Amazon” and then reach out, he said.- Japanese TV goes global -Japanese broadcasters have also become “better and better (at) presenting and marketing their content” abroad, said Makito Sugiyama, executive director at the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan (BEAJ).This includes their participation at global events such as MIPCOM in Cannes, an annual trade show for the television industry, Sugiyama said.Japanese broadcasters have long had success selling show concepts abroad, like the one for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, known in Britain as “You’ve Been Framed”.Now, some Japanese dramas are also finding a wider echo abroad.Nippon TV’s original drama “Mother” became a hit thanks in part to its Turkish remake, and has been broadcast in around 50 countries.Western viewers have overcome their initial reluctance to watch series with Asian actors, believes Masaru Akiyama, chief executive of the BEAJ.”They have got used to it, they don’t care anymore. They want to see, they want to feel the stories.””Shogun” was “a game changer for Japan,” he added, and Ikeda agrees.”That a samurai story with such attention to historical detail can become mainstream entertainment is proof of the potential” of Japanese content, she said.

Global stocks mostly pushed higher on Tuesday in thin Christmas Eve trade, as investors waited to see if a so-called Santa Claus rally would sweep the market.”Santa Claus comes tonight, but if stock market participants are lucky he will start sprinkling some gifts today, which marks the official start to the ‘Santa Claus rally’ period,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.US stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, with experts advancing a number of possible reasons as to why — including the festive holiday mood and purchasing ahead of the end of the tax year.Wall Street opened modestly higher on the first day of this seven-day stretch and picked up speed as the session progressed. The S&P 500 finished up 1.1 percent.While gains were broad-based, some of the biggest positive moves came from tech heavyweights like Facebook parent Meta, Netflix and Amazon, all of which won more than one percent.”There’s a pretty fair amount of enthusiasm for momentum” stocks, said Jack Ablin, of Cresset Capital, who also noted that low trading volumes amplified the trend.In Europe, Paris’s CAC 40 closed higher in a pre-holiday short session while Frankfurt was closed all day.London also closed in the green, despite a week clouded by lackluster economic data that is “stoking concerns about the UK’s slowing momentum heading into the new year,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets closed up over one percent, as China announced fresh fiscal measures to boost its ailing economy. On Tuesday, state media reported that China will raise its deficit in order to boost spending next year, as the world’s second-largest economy battles sluggish domestic consumption, a property crisis and soaring government debt.Among individual companies, Honda shares closed more than 12 percent higher after the Japanese auto giant announced a buyback of up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion), as it enters merger talks with struggling rival Nissan.The talks between Honda and Nissan could create the world’s third-largest automaker, expanding development of EVs and self-driving tech.Honda’s CEO insisted it was not a bailout for Nissan, which announced thousands of job cuts last month and reported a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit.- Key figures around 1850 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.9 percent at 43,297.03 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 1.1 percent at 6,040.04 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.4 percent at 20,031.13 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8,136.99 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,282.69 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: ClosedTokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 39,036.85 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 20,098.29 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 3,393.53 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0389 from $1.0405 on MondayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2531 from $1.2536Dollar/yen: UP at 157.31 yen from 157.17 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 82.89 pence from 83.00 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $70.10 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent at $73.58 per barrelburs-jmb/nro