(Corrects third from last paragraph to show Renault took a stake in Nissan) By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan risks missing, yet again, an opportunity to use foreign investment to help fuel sustained economic growth that has eluded it for the last two decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make Japan "the world's easiest country for companies to do business in" as part of his economic revival plan, which so far has been largely met with approval. The stock market has rallied 45 percent this year and Abe's approval ratings are around 70 percent. ...

By Ayai Tomisawa TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average surged to a fresh 5-1/2 year high on Monday, buoyed by further weakness in the yen and optimism over the growth outlook after the Japanese government raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months. Signs of an improving U.S. economy and Wall Street's record closing high on Friday cemented the positive mood in markets. The Nikkei climbed 1.5 percent to 15,360.81, the highest closing mark since December 2007. During the day, the index rose as high as 15,381.74, the highest level for the same period. ...

By Stanley White TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan risks missing, yet again, an opportunity to use foreign investment to help fuel sustained economic growth that has eluded it for the last two decades. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make Japan "the world's easiest country for companies to do business in" as part of his economic revival plan, which so far has been largely met with approval. The stock market has rallied 45 percent this year and Abe's approval ratings are around 70 percent. ...

Reuters Market Eye - Shares in Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd gain 3.8 percent, after stocks of its subsidiary Ssangyong Motor Co Ltd hit a 16-month high, dealers say. Shares in Ssangyong Motor jumped as much as 13.5 percent on Monday amid expectations the ailing automaker may post a profit this year. Ssangyong Motor's factory utilisation and sales were growing faster than expected, and the company was seen returning to profit this year, said Yang Hee-joon, an analyst at Taurus Investment & Securities, in a note on Monday. Mahindra and Mahindra will raise its holding in Ssangyong Motor to 72. ...

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Vodacom Group reported a 23 percent rise in full-year profit on Monday underpinned by a strong performance by its African subsidiaries and growth in data usage. The unit of Britain's Vodafone Group said diluted headline earnings per share, which is the benchmark measure of profit in South Africa, totalled 870.2 cents in the year to end- March, from 706 cents a year earlier. The company had previously said headline earnings would rise by 25 percent higher. ...

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp has hired Robert Douglas Lawler of rival Anadarko Petroleum Corp as chief executive, filling the post vacated by co-founder Aubrey McClendon, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Chesapeake and Anadarko could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours. McClendon's departure on April 1 came after a tumultuous year in which a series of Reuters investigations led to civil and criminal probes of the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer. ...