let's go to may u yoshida to see how markets are being affected.give us a picture for this friday morning. >> thanks, ramin. some american tech firms surprised the markets in the past couple of days with their sluggish results. the markets on wall street eventually closed lower and the effect has sort of spread to markets here in japan this morning. the nikkei and the topix is opening lower. the nikkei is down about 0.4% at 20605 and the topix is down 0.3% at the open. the nikkei may end the week rather flat. growing confidence in earnings in japan is supporting tokyo's markets but falling commodity prices and lackluster earnings from u.s. companies are capping the up side. 3m and american express all weighed on the dow which finished 0.67% lower and the tech-heavy nasdaq fell 0.5%. analysts say that global business is not as good as expected for corporate usa. it's not just about the strong dollar and volatile commodities but also about china. on sales outlook for 3m ibm and caterpillar were all weak in chinese. it could affect hitachi constructio

now, for more on how markets here are trading let's go to mai yoshida at the tokyo stock exchange. how is it playing out? >> they say they feel the situation in the euro situation is calming down. the focus turns to asia where there are actions that could corner earnings. let's see how tokyo is kicking off this busy day. another strong kickoff here in tokyo. stocks are opening higher for a third day in a row. the nikkei is opening half a percent higher. 20,487. and the topix is also up half a percent. the longest streak for s&p 500 since january. the retail data spurred a timing on higher rates. so they will look at the timing of rate hikes when federal reserves janet yellen will speak to congress. weak retail data made investors wonder whether the u.s. economy has been strong enough for a widely expected rate hike in september. and we also have another central bank chief speaking today. that's bank of japan's kuruda. so we have two central bankers speaking today. or will be in focus. before we talk about china, i also want to touch on energy sector as oil was a significant focus o

for that we go to mayu yoshida who is standing by at the trading desk. >> good morning. we're seeing developments over greek debt talks. but those are showing a mixed reaction so far. let's see how tokyo markets kicked off the day on july 10th. the nikkei is opening in the negative down 0.5% 19755. however, the broader topix is up opening in the positive up a quarter percent. a very volatile week for the nikkei. it dropped 3% through thursday this week. investors were moved by each headline coming out from greece and also by the wild swings in the chinese markets. and with that said investors on wall street were also in a wait and see mode on greece and china. u.s. stock prices closed well off their intraday highs on thursday. the dow jones industrial average managed to close in the positive up 0.2% and the tech-heavy nasdaq was up 0.25%. market players were mostly in a risk off stance buying up safe havens like the yen and selling off stocks and commodities and that's because china lost over $4 trillion u.s. in less than three weeks and investors were fearing the possib

mayu yoshida reporting for us live from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> now, cats are increasingly the pet of choice in japan. there are now 10 million of them in japanese homes. it's not hard to figure out why. cats are low maintenance. unlike dogs, they don't need to be walked every day, they're easily cared for by single and the elderly people. and a growing number of businesses are really taking note of this fact. >> in june about 3,000 people attended a funeral in wa came ma frsk. the deceased was a beloved cat. she was put in charge of an unmanned station on the local railway line eight years ago. visitors flocked from across japan to see the adorable cat in station master's costume. she was responsible for 360,000 rides in annual passenger numbers. she was 16 when she died. about 80 in human years. cats are living longer in japan. most are kept at home so they don't get the infectious diseases that killed off their ancestors. this has not gone unnoticed by japan's largest petfood maker. it has focused on making products for growingline thesfood pellets are for cats over 20 years

may yoshida from the stokio stock exchange. >>> japanese people have a soft spot for certain types of food in the summer months. and one of them is soman, which is fin noodles. it's a great way to beat the summer heat, but not so great for companies looking for steady revenue. one producer is testing ways to attract customers year round. >> reporter: soma noodles have a long history and so do some of the companies that make them. somin producer has been in business for 380 years. soman usually comes in one color, white. but makers in this area offer customers other options. soman consumption is declining, as people's eating habits change. and being a seasonal business creates another problem. >> translator: demand for soma peaks in summer, but slows in winter. so we hope to develop products that appeal to consumers in winter, too. >> reporter: looking for new product ideas, a company official has come to talk to a group of homemakers. these women run a consulting business focusing on a mother's point of view. >> translator: we want to create dishes that help people enjoy their meals.

and to see how markets here are reacting we go to mayu yoshida who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. we saw a lot of volatility yesterday but how are the markets opening this morning here in tokyo? >> good morning, ramin. aside from china the focus this week is on the fed's policy meeting. investors are worried about how this whole china story may affect the timing of rate hikes in the u.s. they may just stay on the sidelines today before the fed's conclusions come out later today. here's how the japanese markets are opening this wednesday morning. it's july 29th. shares are bouncing back from two-week lows. nikkei up 0.2%. 20366 and the topix is opening up 0.5%. market watchers say the timing of rate hike is very close call between september and december. now, many were initially expecting a september rate hike but that's sort of been fais fading away because, one, we just saw weak consumer confidence and two, investors are worried that china's economic slowdown play ripple through the u.s. and japan. but if the fed waits till year end to raise rates for the first time in

mayu yoshida is here. how are tokyo stocks reacting especially after the news from attorneytoshiba toshiba? >> toshiba's accounting scandal came only a month after japan introduced a corporate governance code so market watchers are worried about it taking a hit on abenomics because it was one of his key growth strategies. let's check the opening levels for this wednesday morning. the nikkei is snapping a six-day winning streak but it's still not so far from its 18-year high. the nikkei is down nearly 1% opening at 20,647. meanwhile, the topix broke seven consecutive sessions. down 0.8%. over in wall street lack luster earnings from a blue blue chip stocks pressured u.s. stocks. disappointing sales from ibm hit the dow hard down exactly 1%. and the nasdaq dropped 0.2%. slowdown in construction in china caused shares to fall 7%. other than ibm and united technologies apple stocks weighed on the dow. analysts say that they're worrying about investors sold stocks as manufacturers with high exposure to overseas

let's now go to may yoshida who is covering the moves for us at the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing so far? >> good morning, ramin. investors are getting over their fears of greece but focus of trading will still be on greece as well as china and oil. let's see how tokyo markets kicked off this wednesday morning. here's how the opening levels the nikkei closed down 0.5% at 20273. the topix is down 5.5% as well. time is running out for greece to submit a new prose posal to its creditors for a third bailout. an economist i talked to said that a spillover from greece to japanese markets is extremely low given that very very few japanese banks hold greek bonds. however, we do need to watch out for china, though. hundreds of companies have halted trading in their shares after the shanghai composite plunged 28% in just three weeks. many market players expect the decline to continue for a while. investors are selling off chinese stocks not just in shanghai or shenzhen stock markets but also in new york where e-commerce giant alibab ba group holdings dropped 0.7% the low

mayu yoshida, nhk world, tokyo. >>> japanese government officials have drawn up the guidelines for the 2016 budget. they're pushing a growth agenda. the officials presented the guidelines at a meeting with members of the ruling parties. the plans include spending up to around $32 billion to promote economic growth. they plan to cap on increase on spending on social security. they plan to accept requests for up to about $5.4 billion. beyond the amount in the initial 2015 budget. in other areas the officials plan to ask ministries and agencies to reduce discretionary policy spending by 10%. they include public works projects. they are expected to approve the guidelines on friday. >>> the people in charge of south korea's top car maker say profits have taken another tumble. hyundai motor executives blame the strong yuan. they stretch their disappointing run to five straight quarters. the executives say from april to june they made an operating profit of $1.5 billion, down 16% from last year. worldwide, they sold about 1.2 million vehicles. down nearly 3%. they say slowed growth is hurting

for that we go to mayu yoshida. looks like draghi's comments moved the markets there. >> that's right, ramin. europe's in a pretty happy mode with the dax at two-month highs yesterday. that spilled over to new york where stocks closed near record. so we're starting to see this rally in global markets. so tokyo markets at the open this friday july 17th. the nikkei is extending gains. yesterday up 0.25% and the topix is at 1662 up 0.1%. and we're heading into a weekly gain with the nikkei rising 4% through thursday. the stronger dollar is definitely helping sentiment before japan's earnings season and overnight the dollar gained momentum after fed chair yellen said she favors tightening in a prudent and gradual manner. and as you know ramen, she's been suggesting rate hikes this year but looks like ekquity investors are doubting it. because the dow closed up nearly 0.4%. and the tech-heavy nasdaq closed at a record. wall street investors were buying up the tech sector that rallied on positive earnings especially from