Toyota to start sales of fuel cell car

TOKYO » There will be only a few hundred, and they won’t be cheap, but Toyota is about to take its first small step into the unproven market for emissions-free, hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The world’s largest automaker announced Tuesday that it will begin selling fuel cell cars in Japan on Dec. 15 and in the U.S. and Europe in mid-2015. The sporty-looking, four-door Toyota Mirai will retail for 6.7 million yen ($57,600) before taxes.

Third-quarter profit up for Home Depot

ATLANTA » Home Depot’s third-quarter profit rose 14 percent as comparable-store sales climbed in the U.S., suggesting that a huge data breach announced exactly two months ago has not shaken the faith of its customers.

The nation’s biggest home improvement retailer stuck to its outlook for all of 2014 but said that it could not account for all possible losses from a data breach it revealed in September that affected 56 million debit and credit cards. For now the company is putting those costs at $28 million pretax for the most recent quarter, and $34 million as it pertains to its guidance for 2014.

U.S. producer prices increase 0.2 percent

WASHINGTON » Inflation picked up in October due to higher prices that U.S. companies received for new model cars, beef, pork, pharmaceuticals and electrical power.

The producer price index increased 0.2 percent in October from the previous month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The index measures the cost of goods and services before they reach the consumer.

Prices for many products climbed even as wholesale gas costs plummeted 5.8 percent last month. Beef prices jumped 6 percent and pork prices surged 8.1 percent.

Homebuilder sentiment rallies this month

WASHINGTON » U.S. homebuilders’ confidence rebounded in November as both sales expectations and buyer traffic improved.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index rose to 58 this month, up from 54 in October. That puts the index just short of September’s reading of 59, which was the highest level since November 2005, shortly before the housing bubble burst. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.

Nokia plans comeback with Android tablet

HELSINKI » Just months after selling its ailing handsets business to Microsoft, Nokia is planning to go back into the consumer market with a new tablet.

The former top mobile phone maker, which has a history of reinventing itself since it began as a paper maker in the 19th century, said Tuesday it will launch a 7.9-inch Android device early next year in China, the world’s biggest market, before selling it elsewhere.

Blighted harvest could raise olive oil price

BEJA, Portugal » If your favorite bottle of Mediterranean olive oil starts costing more, blame unseasonable European weather — and tiny insects.

High spring temperatures, a cool summer and abundant rain are taking a big bite out of the olive harvest in some key regions of Italy, Spain, France and Portugal. Those conditions have also helped the proliferation of the olive fly and olive moth, which are calamitous blights.

The shortfall could translate into higher shelf prices for some olive oils and is dealing another blow to southern Europe’s bruised economies as they limp out of a protracted financial crisis.

ON THE MOVE

Servco Pacific has promoted to vice president Rod Saunders, who also was appointed to vice president of Servco Subaru, a wholly owned subsidiary of Servco. He has been a Servco employee since 2004 and has held management positions, including general manager of Servco Scion and Servco Toyota Windward.

Bennet Group Strategic Communications has promoted Megan Tsu­chida to senior account executive. She previously served as an accounting assistant for Onts CPA LLP, student adviser at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Shidler College of Business and a marketing intern at Modern Luxury magazine.