we cross over to ramin mellegard who is at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. how are japanese markets reacting to the u.s. debt deal going through congress on tuesday? >> good morning to you, ai. the nikkei and the to pix both trading in the negative, in fact the nikkei down by just over 100 points following on from losses that we saw in the dow, as you mentioned there the dow was down for an eighth straight trading session in a row, and that's the longest losing streak actually that we've seen on the dow since october 2008, after the lehman crisis so neglective open here, now basically a deal may have gone through congress to avert a default, but markets still pretty jittery rarding fundamentals both for japan's economy as well as the u.s. economy, you mentioned there consumer sentiment and also a lot of eyes are going to be on the u.s. jobs number, which is coming up on friday, and that follows faltering data we already have seen on housing and manufacturing side in the u.s. also moodies investor services came out and made a statement saying that it still ha

that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. now let's take a look at other market figures. >> that's all for this hour in business. back to you. >> thanks very much. libya's opposition leader has urged the followingers of moammar gadhafi to surrender before saturday. he said if not, the opposition forces will opt for military action to put them under control. the head of libya's council spoke to reporters in the eastern city of benghazi on tuesday. he said the leader remains a threat to the libyan people until he is placed in custody. gadhafi's regime has matched since opposition forces seized control of the capital tripoli last week. gadhafi supporters are maintaining resistance to his hometown of sert and other places across the country. the ntc is continuing talks with loyalist tribes on a peaceful solution while mobilizing troops around sert where gadhafi is said to be hiding. >> the march 11th disaster. the september 11 attacks. two anniversaries. one source for in depth coverage. join nhk world for japan, six months on, a

back to you. >> ramin mellegard, thank you very much for that. we'll have more on the moody's downgrade later in the show. >>> china is expanding the use of its currency in settling cross-border trade. it will allow businesses nationwide to celt exposettle ed imports with the yuan. the country's central bank, people's bank of china said permission for yuan-based trade will now apply to businesses across the nation. previously, it included only a limited number of regions. this will allow chinese companies as well as trading firms overseas to settle more accounts using the yuan to rein in currency risks. originally in 2009, china permitted firms in five cities, including shanghai, to use the yuan for trade with southeast asian nations. the government later expanded the use of its currency to 20 domestic areas and all international trade. meanwhile, china's commerce ministry also said it will start allowing foreign direct investment in the country in yuan. china is aiming to boost the status of the yuan as an international currency amid weakening t

ramin mellegard from t tokyo stock exchange. now time to get you a look at some other market figures. >>> and that's all for business for this hour. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> members of the asia pacific economic cooperation forum will discuss measures that companies can take against disasters. the two-day conference starts on tuesday in sendai miyagi prefecture which was hit hard by the march 11th earthquake and tsunami. participants met at a reception on monday evening. about 100 experts and government officials from 18 countries and regions are attending the conference. >> translator: people in the prefecture will do all they can for early reconstruction. we would like to ask for further support for their rebuilding efforts. >> state secretary for foreign affairs takahashi said earthquakes hit many parts of the asia pacific region every ye. he said he wants to exchange information on initial responses to quakes, as well as reconstruction after disasters. he added that the government wants to develop a pla