Economy

TOKYO (Kyodo)--A government panel reviewing Japan's nuclear fuel cycle policy agreed Wednesday that pursuing the reprocessing and the direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel concurrently would be the ''most superior'' option if the scale of the country's atomic power reliance remains ''uncertain.''

TOKYO (Kyodo)--The Bank of Japan missed on Wednesday a target for the purchase of long-term government bonds for the first time under its asset-purchase program introduced in 2010, the central bank said.

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government will encourage university students to intern at regional businesses, according to proposed strategies for helping young Japanese find work.

TOKYO (NQN)--Japan's consumer confidence index fell 0.3 point in April from March to 40 on a seasonally adjusted basis, for the first decline in a year, the Cabinet Office reported on Tuesday.

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's industry minister said Tuesday that the government will revise its targets for electricity consumption cuts this summer if reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in western Japan are brought back online.