DETROIT (AP) — Gas prices hit a sweet spot for automakers last month. They fell far enough to spur pickup truck sales, yet remained so high that small cars sold well, sometimes just hours after reaching dealers’ lots.

That made June a good month for General Motors and Ford, which have traditionally relied on truck sales and now have strong line-ups of smaller, fuel-efficient models as well.

Toyota and Honda couldn’t take advantage, however. Their sales plummet more than 20 percent each as they ran short of cars because of the ongoing problems from the March earthquake in Japan.

The gains came after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred around 10:30 a.m. ET, near the same location off the coast of Japan as the March 11 earthquake.

Japan’s news agency NHK issued a tsunami warning for roughly the same area that had been deluged by water less than a month ago. The tsunami warning was lifted two hours later, with no reports of major damage.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Toyota’s U.S. manufacturing arm is preparing for a possible shutdown because of parts shortages from Japan, a Toyota spokesman said.

Word has gone out to all 13 of Toyota’s factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This does not mean that the plants will stop working, Toyota spokesman Mike Goss said, but that they should be ready in case the need arises.

“We expect some kind of interruptions,” he said.

Manufacturing is slowly getting back to normal in Japan for several big companies that had stopped operations after a massive earthquake.

Sony expects to partially resume operations at a lithium ion battery plant in Tochigi prefecture on Tuesday, according to a report from Reuters.

However, six Sony plants in Japan remain closed because of damage from the massive earthquake, tsunami and related power failures, Reuters said.

Sony is among many Japanese companies to shut down and/or reduce operations after the disaster, which disrupted supplies, Reuters adds. Sony is uncertain when closed plants will resume operations. The plants make different devices, such as integrated circuit cards and Blu-ray discs, Reuters said.

NEW YORK — Watch out for intraday swings because it’s going to be wild.

Cataclysmic events, including a nuclear disaster in Japan, uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa and the possibility of more currency market intervention will keep investors reacting to headlines.

“This is an extremely news-driven market. Investors are on the edge, and they are reacting to every headline they see,” said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at the Schwab Center for Financial Research in Austin, Texas.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — General Motors has suspended production at a facility in Louisiana due to a shortage of parts stemming from the natural disaster in Japan, the automaker said Thursday.

The Shreveport Assembly plant, where GM makes the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, will be closed for the week of March 21, according to a statement.

WASHINGTON — Honda Motor Co. is recalling the popular Accord and Civic passenger cars to address problems with an ignition switch that could allow the key to be removed without the transmission being shifted into park, its third recall over the problem since 2003.

Honda said the most recent recall involved 384,220 vehicles and includes 2003 model year Accord and Civics and 2003-2004 versions of the Honda Element. Honda told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the defect with the automatic transmissions could lead to a vehicle rolling away and increase the risk of a crash.

WASHINGTON – Complaints of deaths connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles has surged in recent weeks, with the alleged death toll reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer data gathered by the government.

Complaints to a database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the popular Toyota Prius hybrid grew by nearly 1,000 in just over a week.

HONG KONG – Asian markets gained more ground Monday as Japan’s new $150 billion stimulus plan and upbeat news about Chinese bank lending boosted hopes for recovery in the region’s major economies.

Trade was thinner than normal with many investors still away for a public holiday and several markets closed. A stronger dollar combined with Tokyo’s latest measures helped exporters like Mazda and Nissan. Oil prices slipped to near $51 a barrel.