(Reuters) – Asian shares extended gains on Wednesday as Wall Street’s record close encouraged investors to take on more risk amid signs of a continuing U.S. economic recovery and globally accommodative monetary conditions. The dollar eased 0.2 percent .DXY against a basket of key currencieswhile copper and crude oil prices rose as did commodity-linked currencies, often linked to risk appetite. The …

(Reuters) – China’s Export-Import Bank will provide a loan of $278.2 million to Sri Lanka to help lay a rail track to a key port which Beijing is building that has stoked concern in neighboring India. The port of Hambantota on the southern tip of the Indian Ocean island nation is envisioned as a refueling and service point for cargo …

Gold firmed on Monday, bouncing from a one-week low hit on Friday, supported by physical buying in Asia, but robust US economic data dented bullion’s safe-haven appeal. Automatic spending cuts that kicked off in the United States on Friday, pushing spot gold to its lowest level in more than a week, also continued to weigh. “The broad theme might be …

The yen was under pressure in Asian trading on Tuesday after pro-easing comments from the men nominated to take over as the Bank of Japan’s new leadership. Japan’s currency has been pushed down by expectations that the BoJ will adopt fresh credit easing measures to boost the world’s third-largest economy when its new leaders take up their posts in the …

(MarketWatch) — Japanese stocks extended gains Tuesday on hopes for further monetary easing under a new central bank chief, while Australian shares rebounded strongly from the previous day’s losses in the wake of positive cues from Wall Street. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.8% in Tokyo, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.5% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.7%. Japanese …

March 1st, 2013, Daily Market Bite from Ishaq Siddiqi Market Strategist [fve]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym_TtSPojtk[/fve] Weak Chinese PMIs indicating a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy together with the US sequesters kicking off as US lawmakers failed to pass two bills on Thursday. European stock markets are feeling the heat as a result, pressured further by softness in Asian markets overnight. China …

The continuing ascension of China in South Asia is not a recent world development. However, the increasing power that China asserts on South Asia is now catching a lot of attention. China has always played the appeasement game well and continues to do so today. It’s dominance over South Asia; especially South East Asia is noteworthy. China has always believed …

The Hurun Report, compiled by British accountant and former Forbes Rich List researcher Rupert Hoogewerf, found that Asia had 608 dollar billionaires, compared with North America’s 440 and 324 in Europe. It is believed to be the first time Asia has been named as home of the largest proportion of super-rich on any global list. Nonetheless the US, which has …

HONG KONG: Asian markets were mostly up on Wednesday, with Sydney hitting a near three-year high, but Tokyo sank on profit-taking and as the yen picked up strength against the euro and dollar. The Japanese currency picked up after a Group of Seven (G7) statement on Tuesday that said “excessive volatility” in exchange markets hurts financial stability, as they tried …

(Reuters) – Rosneft is seeking to borrow up to $30 billion from China in exchange for possibly doubling oil supplies, making Beijing the largest consumer of Russian oil and further diverting supplies away from Europe. Four industry sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that Rosneft was in talks with Chinese state firm CNPC about the borrowing, which would echo a $25 …