Japan stock indices rose on the news that Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu are in talks to merge their hard disk businesses as a cost cutting measure. Toshiba will have a majority stake in the joint venture. The report said the combined operations of the two companies will generate 700 billion yen, surpassing Samsung's hard disk drive business. An agreement in expected before the end of this month. Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori confirmed that the companies were still in discussions.
