yuko fukushima, nhk world. >> that is the latest in business for this hour. it is back to catherine now. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> we go to china where a court sentenced 49 people for their roles in a fatal factory blast. it's given a suspended death sentence to the head of a logistics company that handles hazardous chemicals. warehouse explosion last year in the port of tianjin left 173 dead or missing. china's state run xinhua news agency has details of the court ruling. the reports say the chairman was sentenced for the illegal storage of dangerous substances and other charges. a suspended death sentence is usually commuted to life in prison after two years. the court gave others jail sentencing raising up to life imprisonment. it also jailed 25 local government officials for bribe taking and other charges. >>> the leaders of india and japan are expected to sign an agreement on nuclear energy. indian prime minister narendra modi is heading to tokyo to meet with prime minister shinzo abe, but the nuclear deal has drawn criticism because india has develop

. >>> let's get the updates in business with yuko fukushima. >> hello. as we've just seen in the report, many government officials are worried about the position of the next u.s. president. i understand in the business sector, business people are interested in finding opportunities. >> that's right. decided to invest in one of the largest biomass projects in the uk. more in a moment. in other news tonight here in japan, banks extend record lows to the real estate sector. the government will offer smaller mid-size business incentives to have higher wages. >>> let's start with markets and the dollar against the yen. the dollar advanced about one yen from trading yesterday from overnight gains in the u.s. retail sales figures were better than expected leading investors to think the economy is strong enough for a rate hike. now trading 109.68-76. now, the nikkei rose to 17,862. more than a nine-month high. traders bought export shares on the back of a weaker yen. they also picked up financial stocks as higher japanese bond yields could bring more profits for

yuko fukushima, nhk world. >> and you can catch our report again online together with a full transcript. thanks for joining us on business. i'll leave you with the markets. >>> workers in western japan say they will have a huge sinkhole fixed by monday. a section in the main thoroughfare collapsed earlier this week. 30 meter pit opened in a busy commercial area of the city. officials say the earth crumbled due to work on a subway line. the water supply remains cut off in s some areas. officials say they're w workingo temporarily repair water pipes, electrical lines and other infrastructure. they plan to finish by sunday. >> translator: after fixing the gas, water and sewage pipes, we'll fill the hole so the ground is level and then we'll pave the road and reopen it.t. >> they plan to forfy the foundatitions of nearby buildin by piling up large sandbags at their bases. >>> overcast skies is the forecast for us here in tokyo. jonathan oh from the weather desk joins us for this hour's update starting from northern japan. >> looks like we will be getting warmer as we head towards saturday a