for more we cross refer over to mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. the markets continue to be driven by the sovereign debt problem in greece. how are stocks hookilooking at open this wednesday morning? >> reporter: market players are hard pressed not to take their eyes off that story you just mentioned, dominating global markets for better or worse. how it's affecting the nikkei and the topix, both indexes trading in the positive for the first few minutes of trading. yesterday it gained almost 3%, some sectors under selling pressures in previous sessions bounced back. we liked electronics, high-tech sector, and autos and financials, among some of the better performers. we're likely to see further gains today on the back of the positive sentiment, gain in the u.s. and european markets and further reassurances from european officials that their plans are under way to prop up some of the bailout funds for weaker eurozone economies. currency markets usually reflect the effects of stock market plays and we did see some positive moves there and we did see

that was market reporter ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's get you a look at other market figures now. that is all for now in business news. back to catherine. >>> in afghanistan taliban fighters have attacked the u.s. embassy and other facilities in the capital kabul. at least seven people have been killed. afghan police say armed insurgents fired rockets at the u.s. embassy on tuesday. the nearby headquarters of the nato-led international forces was also a target. police say the attacks soon developed into gun fights between the taliban and afghan security troops. the interior ministry says the shooting killed four. the u.s. embassy says four afghan citizens who happened to be inside the embassy applying for visas were injured. the bombings killed three people. a taliban spokesperson told nhk that the organization is responsible for all the attacks. president hamid karzai on tuesday released a statement condemning the actions. he said this will not stop the transition of security from international to afghan forces. secretary of state

for details and how that's affecting tokyo stocks let's go to our market reporter ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. how is the market looking this tuesday morning? >> the dow having traded in the negative for most of the session rallied in the positive backing up by expectations china might buy some italian debt, easing concerns about eurozone economies. the nikkei and the topix a rebound for both indexes and stocks did hit some lows yesterday, so we're seeing some of those stocks actually bullying up the nikkei and the topix. the nikkei hasn't closed above 9,000 since september 1st and been caught up in the stronger yen throughout that period and weaker than expected manufacturing data out of the u.s. and this week further economic data, retail sales coming up and manufacturing data out of the new york and philadelphia manufacturing region so another one which is closely watched. still, europe does remain the main picture here and driving force for a lot of markets surrounding debt repayments by the likes of greece and also concerns about germany's involvements in helping

so for details and to see how markets are kicking off here in tokyo let's go to ramin mellegard, he's at the tokyo stock exchange. how are stocks looking at the open? >> reporter: good morning to you ai. a bit of a choppy open as you said. u.s. and european markets providing a bit of a relief after the vote from the german parliament to supply further bailout funds for weaker eurozone economies and that's had a lot of volatile sessions throughout this week based on the issues surrounding eurozone debt and also concerns now both in france and germany about that final exact amount needed for the bailout funds and on the political front, there's still some questions there, regardless of how the voting has gone. let's have a look at thepening levels here this friday morning, and you can see both indexes trading just a touch lower, not any major move, but just in the negative there. some fundamentals also in the u.s. market, which provide a short term boost as well as you mentioned there for the dow which had a pretty volatile session, we saw jobless claims actually dropping to its lowest

and to see how things are kicking off at the tokyo stock exchange, we cross over to ramin mellegard. good morning to you. markets not too impressed by the central bank's move. how are things looking at the open? >> very good morning to you. not impressed at all. the nikkei and the topix following that. having a look at the opening levels this thursday morning, the nikkei down by over 100 points and the topix down by almost 9 points. and that's reflecting the overall global sentiment by the move by the fed yesterday. after we used the words significant downside risk referring to the u.s. economy. the fed were expecting markets to extend the purchase of u.s. treasuries known as the operation twist after a similar move back in the '60s. but markets were also hoping for something a little extra, a twist and a turn, if you will, as the markets were saying that the fed's move was maybe not enough really to boost the economy after some of the steps that it's just taken. and the financial sector really reflected that. it was the heaviest hit sector in the u.s. we're going to be watching out

i hand it over to rin mellegard for details. u.s. stocks and global boerses are continuingo s a downtrend. how are tokyo stocks kicking off? >> reporter: they are coming back from public holidaynd ckgff with downward spiral on renewed concerns about eurozone debt and the surprise news by the swiss national bank. the markets hereoulee a bit of a surprise here we're seeing a major rebound for the nikkei and the topix. let's not forget that yesterday th nke flo a two and a half year closing low and decent volume and what we're seeing is a rebound from those lows so a bit of a movingwaro t trend that we've seen in the u.s. markets overnight, and actually snapping three days of losses for the nikkei andpi the u.s. and more importantly what's going on in the eurozone will be key focus for investors here in japan on a couple of on. rsy there is a possible lawsuit from a u.s. housing agency which has named several banks including nur holdings u.s. unit in relation to mortgage-backed security sales leading up to the lehman crisis. now we've b

that was our market reporter ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's take a look at some other market figures. >>> that is all afor this hour n business. now back it catherine. >>> thank you, ai. >>> afghan president rabbani was killed in kabul tuesday evening. a major explosion occurred near rabbani's home before 6 p.m. local time. a government spokesperson told nhk that the perpetrator exploded a bomb he was carrying when he visited rabbani. he said the blast killed the former president. rabbani was elected president in 1992. he was ousted by the taliban when the islamist militant group took power four years later. rabbani's headed the country's high peace council said up by karzai to negotiate with the taliban. karzai is visiting the u.s. to attend a u.n. general assembly. his office said he will cut short his trip and return home np obama called rabbani's death a tragic loss. he also pledged continued is you pour for bringing stability to the country. >>> china expressed support for palestine's bid for full u.n. membership. >> translator: chi

that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> honda srling 210,000 subcompact cars worldwide due to faulty window switches. it will recall about 203,000 fit vehicles in the country produced between october 2005 and october 2007. more than 12,000 units of the fit aria manufactured by the thai subsidiary. it says soldering on the driver's side could melt and worst case could cause a fire. there are 260 problems with the switch in japan. fire broke out in eight of the cases causing minor burns to two people. honda will start replacing the switch free of charge from tuesday in japan. it says another 720,000 cars made in china, malaysia and other countries will also be recalled. >>> and now here's a recap of the latest market figures. that's all for now in business. now it's back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> today "newsline" brings you part two in the series "9/11 defining a dead kad" about the al qaeda attacks against u.s. targets ten years ago. observers say following oma bin laden's death, al qaedaill weaken, but a man who says he worked for osama bin laden has a