Tokyo Gas Co., Limited

Wall Street overnight fell on the unexpected drop of the private sector employment data, which raised investors' concern over the key nonfarm payroll figures to be released on Friday. Asian markets were mostly lower Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei index closed slightly lower with a 0.1 per cent fall on the last day of the current fiscal year for most Japanese companies. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both lost 0.6 per cent. Today China is due to release PMI figures for the manufacturing sector.

US shares overnight declined, led by telecommunications sector. Sprint Nextel officially unveiled a new mobile phone able to tap into super-high speeds. Sprint Nextel rallied but all other telecom fell on competitive worries. Portugal's credit rating downgrade also weighed on the US market. Most Asian markets posted modest gains Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei index was up 0.4. China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index advanced 0.1 per cent each, helped by strong corporate earnings reports. South Korea's Kospi slightly declined by 0.05 per cent.

Chevron Australia Ltd has signed gas deals worth A$70 billion to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan and South Korea, the world's two largest LNG import markets.