A Quick Glance at News

v Asian shares fell after recent rally but the euro held near a seven-week high on Wednesday on views the European Central Bank will act to rein in surging euro zone borrowing costs and policymakers will find ways to keep Greece on lifelines.

v Data on Wednesday showed Japan's exports fell 8.1 per cent in July from a year earlier, boding ill for the fragile economy heavily dependent on overseas demand.

v Asian credit markets were steady, with the spread on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index barely changed and pinned near its tightest level in five month.

v Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is holding bilateral talks with leaders of France, Germany and the Eurogroup this week to seek concessions for its austerity-to-bailout swap. His meeting with Merkel is set for Friday.

v Top global miner BHP Billiton may put three mega projects on hold on Wednesday when it is expected to report its first annual profit fall in three years due to rising costs and falling commodity prices.

v Asian equities are not yet overbought, judging from the amount of net foreign buying, which stood at $8.1 billion so far in August, Credit Suisse said in a research note.

v Speculation that the ECB will take a decisive step to cut borrowing costs in Spain and Italy to help reduce their high public debts gained further momentum with an article in London's Daily Telegraph, which said the ECB was examining plans to put a hard cap on Spanish and Italian yields.

v The market rallied on growing convictions that Germany stands ready to do more to keep the euro zone united. Merkel's government seems more willing to ease the official debt burden on Greece, as long as the basic elements of the second bailout program remain," Barclays Capital said in a research note.

v The dollar was down 0.1 per cent against the yen at 79.24 yen, off a five-week high at 79.66 yen hit on Monday. The dollar index measured against key currencies hovered near its seven-week low touched the previous day.

v U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors took profits after driving the Standard & Poor's 500 index to a four-year high, while European shares rose and yields in Spain and Italy fell further. Spain's 10-year debt yields have shed about 8 per cent this month.

v The worst U.S. drought in half a century hoisted soybeans on Tuesday to another peak, and corn up nearly 2 per cent.

v Brent crude steadied near $115 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by hopes that European policymakers will act to resolve the region's debt crisis and by Middle East tensions that kept supply disruption concerns intact.

v Dell Inc warned of a challenging second half and slashed its full-year earnings outlook as customers cut back on computer purchases ahead of the launch of Microsoft's Windows 8 software, sending its shares down more than 4 percent.

v Ben Bernanke received an unlikely defense of his work at the U.S. Federal Reserve by a top Mitt Romney adviser, who said on Tuesday that he should be considered for a third term as chairman.

v Face book Inc. (FB) director Peter Thiel sold most of his stake in the operator of the world’s largest social-networking website, bringing his proceeds to more than $1 billion, after restrictions on insider sales ended.