With waning cigarette sales due to concerns about health, smoking bans and price increases, Philip Morris USA is staking its future in a new research center meant to develop products to reduce the risk of tobacco use.
Japanese retail sales rose for a second straight month in September, increasing 0.5 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by hotter weather and two long weekends during the month, the government said Monday.
Oil prices rose above $93 a barrel to a new trading high in Asia Monday after Mexico's state oil company said it was suspending about a fifth of its oil production due to a storm.
Hong Kong's key stock index surged to a new high in morning trading Monday, led by property stocks on expectations of an interest rate cut in the United States and amid a growing demand for shares of mainland Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
Japan's Pentax Corp. may seek monetary damages from a battery-making subsidiary of electronics giant Matsushita after a fire at a plant run by the company caused Pentax to delay the launch of a new camera, Pentax said Monday, according to a media report.
Japan's Nissan Motor Co. on Monday firmed up its partnership with Indian truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland Ltd. to jointly develop and manufacture light commercial vehicles in India.
Toshiba reported a 28 percent drop in profit for the July-September quarter Monday, partly because of one-time expenses for property value calculations that offset solid sales in computers and chips.
The euro crept steadily higher against the U.S. dollar, reaching a new record and then continuing its climb in morning European trading on Monday, as markets looked for signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve about a likely rate cut this week.
