Asian stocks also endured losses, although one notable exception was Japan, where the benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.2 percent to close at 8,973.84.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2 percent to 19,735.04 while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2 percent to 1,913.73. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also fell.

Mainland Chinese shares also lost ground, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index falling 0.6 percent to 2,380.72 after a day of volatile trading. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 956.19.

Investors appeared to take little comfort from a weekend move by the central bank to cut bank reserve requirements by 50 basis points following Friday’s release of disappointing economic data. The reserve cut is expected to free over 400 billion yuan ($63.4 billion) in financing.

“The liquidity released by the authorities did not ease investors fears over the economic outlook, and the market will remain unstable in the near term,” said Zhang Yang, an analyst at Sinolink Securities, based in Shanghai.

Real estate and railway contractors rose on expectations more funding may be available for projects, with Hong Kong-listed China Railway Construction Corp. up 1.3 percent.

Investor nervousness remains rampant because of political uncertainty in Greece and a possible fallout to the rest of the region.

Last-ditch efforts by President Karolos Papoulias to broker a deal between wrangling party leaders have so far failed, although more talks to form a coalition are planned for Monday.

The chances of success have been diminished after one leftist party pulled out of the talks, leading the country one step closer to new elections — and bringing its continued membership in the euro into serious doubt.

Wall Street ended last week with a decline after JPMorgan said it lost $2 billion on poorly-thought-out trades.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down $1.72 to $94.42 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 95 cents to settle at $96.13 in New York on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2868 from $1.2925 late Friday in New York. The dollar rose to 80.05 yen from 79.90 yen.

___

AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai.

Follow Yuri Kageyama at Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Elaine Kurtenbach at http://www.twitter.com/ekurtenbachsh

Japanese manufacturers have been moving production abroad recently to offset the earnings damage from the soaring yen.

And fears are growing about a hollowing-out of Japan Inc. as jobs move to China, India and the rest of Asia, where labor costs are cheaper.

Misumi was adamant that jobs won’t be cut at Canon.

“When machines become more sophisticated, human beings can be transferred to do new kinds of work,” he said.

Toyota Motor Corp. is also working on beefing up automated production not only to cut costs but achieve better quality.

In a recent plant tour for reporters, Toyota showed how welding got much faster and more precise through instantaneous laser-welding.

Toyota used that technology to make Lexus luxury models move and withstand sharp turns better.

Despite growing pressure from the high yen, Toyota is innovating production efficiency to keep annual Japan production at 3 million vehicles, about a third of its global production, by reducing costs through boosting robotics use.

Akihito Sano, professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology, said Japan needs to do more to fine-tune its sophisticated technology so robotics can become more practical, and was doing some soul-searching lately about practical applications.

Japan has tended to focus on research and come up with razzle-dazzle humanoids and then get been beaten in simple but practical products like the Roomba vacuum cleaner by iRobot Corp. of the United States, he said.

Honda Motor Co.’s walking and talking Asimo human-shaped robot comes with voice recognition, pours juice into a cup and can run around on two legs. But, unlike Roomba, it has yet to enter a real living room to do actual vacuuming and it merely plays mascot at events.

Since the late 1990s, like other manufacturers, Canon began using the “cell” production method, in which a team of workers or one worker puts together a major part, rather than doing a simple task over and over.

In recent years, robots have become so much a part of this cell production, Canon calls it “man-machine cell.” Eventually, human involvement will be phased out in making some products, according to Canon.

In the U.S., Amazon.com Inc. is buying Kiva Systems, which makes robots and software to help companies fulfill orders, for $775 million.

Amazon has been using automation at its order fulfillment centers for some time. But Kiva’s technology is designed to lower costs and will be used to help workers pick and pack books.

Sano, the academic, stressed the need for a system so workers can communicate with robots. He also stressed that there will always be room for human intelligence, using the Japanese for “craftsmanship,” or “takumi.”

“Human beings are needed to come up with innovations on how to use robots,” said Sano. “Going to a no-man operation at that level is still the world of science fiction.”

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama at Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

It also raised its forecasts for the fiscal year through March 2013, to a 400 billion yen ($5 billion) profit, up from its earlier forecast for 290 billion yen ($3.6 billion).

President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Nissan held up well in recent months amid serious hardships, including a slowdown in Europe, and was gearing up for more growth, banking on solid demand in China and other emerging markets.

Ghosn said Nissan plans to be the No. 1 Asian brand in China, Russia and India.

“Overall, it is going to be a good year for the industry,” he told reporters, while noting that the soaring yen was a serious worry.

A strong yen hurts all Japanese exporters like Nissan by eroding the overseas sales value.

Nissan had eked out a 30.8 billion yen profit for the January-March period last year, battered by the March 11 tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan. Quarterly sales jumped 15 percent on year to 2.71 trillion yen ($33.9 billion).

For the fiscal year through March, Nissan posted a 341.4 billion yen ($4.3 billion) profit, up 7 percent on year, on 9.4 trillion yen ($117 billion) sales, up 7.2 percent.

“It is an even more encouraging performance given the headwinds created by natural disasters, an overvalued yen and uncertain global economic conditions,” said Ghosn.

Ghosn said Nissan was already strong in China, Russia and Brazil, but was also looking at even newer markets like Indonesia, Africa and the Middle East.

“Doing nothing in my opinion is the biggest risk,” he told reporters.

Nissan’s vehicle sales growth in the latest fiscal year at nearly 16 percent outpaced the overall industry growth of 4 percent. Nissan global market share rose 0.6 points to 6.4 percent, it said.

The rebound is playing out at other Japanese automakers.

Toyota Motor Corp. reported earlier this week quarterly profit more than quadrupled to 121 billion yen ($1.5 billion), and gave upbeat forecasts for the coming fiscal year, hoping to sell 8.7 million vehicles around the world this business year.

Honda Motor Co. reported its January-March profit jumped 61 percent on robust car and motorcycle sales, and forecast record global sales of 4.3 million vehicles for this fiscal year.

Nissan shares gained 3.3 percent to close at 804 yen in Tokyo. Earnings were released shortly after trading ended.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

The latest red ink was worse than 1995, which followed Sony’s ambitious but disastrous purchase of Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures.

Sony’s recent troubles were worsened by factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan, ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami last year. Sony also suffered production disruptions from the flooding in Thailand.

Quarterly sales inched up 1.2 percent on-year to 1.6 trillion yen ($20 billion). Annual sales plunged nearly 10 percent to 6.5 trillion yen ($81 billion), as unit sales slipped in flat-panel TVs, video and digital cameras, game machines and personal computers.

Sony has bled money for eight straight years in its core TV business, bashed by competition from Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and other Asian rivals.

And consumers are flocking to products from Apple Inc. like the iPhone and iPad instead of Sony gadgets.

A soaring yen that erodes the overseas earnings of Japanese exporters like Sony has also added to the damage.

Sony is aiming for a comeback under Kazuo Hirai, appointed president last month, who has headed the gaming division and built his career in the U.S.

Sony forecast a return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2013 at 30 billion yen ($375 million), banking on the growing smartphone and tablet business, as well as a recovery from last year’s disasters.

Lasts month, Hirai said the company will cut 10,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, and turn a profit in TVs in the next two years.

The job cuts come on top of a couple of rounds under Hirai’s predecessor, Welsh-born Howard Stringer, who remains chairman and was the first foreigner to head Sony.

Yasunori Tateishi, author of “Farewell Our Sony,” believes the long sought boon Sony executives promised from exploiting its electronics and entertainment operations has been illusive.

He said Sony was in a bind because, even when its electronics segment fared well, its results would be pulled down by entertainment problems — or the other way around.

“Synergy is something that might happen, but it’s not something a company should go after,” he said. “It instead turns into an obstacle.”

Sony had recorded a 260 billion yen loss the previous fiscal year.

The latest results were better than the 520 billion yen ($6.5 billion) annual loss the Tokyo-based company had projected. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated a more optimistic 430 billion yen ($5.3 billion) loss.

Sony said sales improved in its film business, lifted by television and video-on-demand for the “Spider-Man” series, but profits fell slightly, despite the popularity of “The Smurfs” and “Bad Teacher,” offsetting the failure of “Arthur Christmas.”

Sales and profit both dropped in its music business. Best-sellers included Adele’s “21″ and Beyonce’s “4.”

Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato said fixing the electronics business remains critical, as revenue improves in entertainment this year with “The Amazing Spider-Man,” ”Men in Black 3″ and the new James Bond film “Skyfall,” and music downloads start to make up for dropping CD sales.

“This year remains crucial for a recovery in our electronics business,” Kato said, adding that the effort to reduce TV business losses was on track. “A fifth straight year of losses should never be tolerated.”

Analysts say it remains to be seen whether Hirai can steer Sony’s turnaround.

Prices come down so fast that the initial year or so — when an innovative product is taking off — is crucial. Sony fell behind when digital music players and flat TVs became hits.

Tateishi, the author, says Sony still has the lead in digital broadcasting, 3-D camcorders and other imagery technology and should pioneer new categories of products, if it hopes to survive.

Sony shares, which have lost about half their value over the past year, dipped 1.2 percent to 1,213 yen in Tokyo. Trading ended shortly before earnings were announced.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

The latest red ink was worse than 1995, which followed Sony’s ambitious but disastrous purchase of Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures.

Sony’s recent troubles were worsened by factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan, ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami last year. Sony also suffered production disruptions from the flooding in Thailand.

Quarterly sales inched up 1.2 percent on-year to 1.6 trillion yen ($20 billion). Annual sales plunged nearly 10 percent to 6.5 trillion yen ($81 billion), as unit sales slipped in flat-panel TVs, video and digital cameras, game machines and personal computers.

Sony has bled money for eight straight years in its core TV business, bashed by competition from Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and other Asian rivals.

And consumers are flocking to products from Apple Inc. like the iPhone and iPad instead of Sony gadgets.

A soaring yen that erodes the overseas earnings of Japanese exporters like Sony has also added to the damage.

Sony is aiming for a comeback under Kazuo Hirai, appointed president last month, who has headed the gaming division and built his career in the U.S.

Sony forecast a return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2013 at 30 billion yen ($375 million), banking on the growing smartphone and tablet business, as well as a recovery from last year’s disasters.

Lasts month, Hirai said the company will cut 10,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its global work force, and turn a profit in TVs in the next two years.

The job cuts come on top of a couple of rounds under Hirai’s predecessor, Welsh-born Howard Stringer, who remains chairman and was the first foreigner to head Sony.

Yasunori Tateishi, author of “Farewell Our Sony,” believes the long sought boon Sony executives promised from exploiting its electronics and entertainment operations has been illusive.

He said Sony was in a bind because, even when its electronics segment fared well, its results would be pulled down by entertainment problems — or the other way around.

“Synergy is something that might happen, but it’s not something a company should go after,” he said. “It instead turns into an obstacle.”

Sony had recorded a 260 billion yen loss the previous fiscal year.

The latest results were better than the 520 billion yen ($6.5 billion) annual loss the Tokyo-based company had projected. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated a more optimistic 430 billion yen ($5.3 billion) loss.

Sony said sales improved in its film business, lifted by television and video-on-demand for the “Spider-Man” series, but profits fell slightly, despite the popularity of “The Smurfs” and “Bad Teacher,” offsetting the failure of “Arthur Christmas.”

Sales and profit both dropped in its music business. Best-sellers included Adele’s “21″ and Beyonce’s “4.”

Chief Financial Officer Masaru Kato said fixing the electronics business remains critical, as revenue improves in entertainment this year with “The Amazing Spider-Man,” ”Men in Black 3″ and the new James Bond film “Skyfall,” and music downloads start to make up for dropping CD sales.

“This year remains crucial for a recovery in our electronics business,” Kato said, adding that the effort to reduce TV business losses was on track. “A fifth straight year of losses should never be tolerated.”

Analysts say it remains to be seen whether Hirai can steer Sony’s turnaround.

Prices come down so fast that the initial year or so — when an innovative product is taking off — is crucial. Sony fell behind when digital music players and flat TVs became hits.

Tateishi, the author, says Sony still has the lead in digital broadcasting, 3-D camcorders and other imagery technology and should pioneer new categories of products, if it hopes to survive.

Sony shares, which have lost about half their value over the past year, dipped 1.2 percent to 1,213 yen in Tokyo. Trading ended shortly before earnings were announced.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama