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TOKYO Asian shares touched fresh 16-month highs on Friday as investors awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due later in the day, with sentiment underpinned by signs that China’s economy is stabilizing. European shares will likely gain modestly, with financial spreadbetters predicting London’s FTSE 100 , Paris’s CAC-40 and Frankfurt’s DAX to open as much as 0.4 percent higher. A 0.1 percent rise in U.S. stock futures hinted at a steady Wall Street open. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.5 percent, and was set for its third-straight weekly gain with a 1.3 percent advance. The index [...]

NEW YORK Stock futures rose on Wednesday after comments from China’s new leader boosted global growth expectations. * Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping said the country would maintain its fine-tuning of economic policies in 2013 to ensure stable economic growth. That sparked a rally in Chinese shares, with the Shanghai Composite Index surging 2.9 percent. * Nokia is to partner with China Mobile <0941.HK>, the world’s biggest operator, to launch a version of its flagship Lumia smartphone tailored for the world’s largest market. U.S.-listed shares of Nokia rose 2.9 percent to $ 3.54 in premarket trading. * Repsol filed [...]

SINGAPORE Asian shares slipped on Tuesday after a plunge in U.S. manufacturing activity hit Wall Street stocks and the dollar, while the euro hovered near a six-week high on optimism over Greece’s plan to buy back debt. Declines in Asian stock markets suggested caution setting in after gains in recent weeks, with investors reluctant to chase shares higher amid continued gridlock in the U.S. Congress over proposals to avert the so-called fiscal cliff – $ 600 billion worth of tax increases and spending cuts that will be automatically triggered in early 2013. European shares were expected to open lower, U.S. [...]

SINGAPORE Asian shares slipped on Tuesday after a plunge in U.S. manufacturing activity hit American stocks and the dollar, while the euro hovered near a six-week high on optimism over Greece’s plan to buy back debt. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fell 0.3 percent to 450.79, backing away from a nine-month high reached on Monday. Australian shares eased 0.5 percent, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average fell 0.2 percent, declining further from a seven-month intraday high of 9,525.82 struck on Monday. The losses in Asian stock markets were suggestive of some caution after gains in the [...]

NEW YORK Stock futures inched higher on the final trading day of the month, but the mood was still cautious with the market firmly focused on U.S. budget talks. * Whole Foods Market Inc announced a special cash dividend of $ 2.00 per share. In expectation of higher dividend tax rates in 2013, companies have been shifting dividends or announcing special payouts to shareholders. * After a close relationship for several years, Facebook Inc and Zynga Inc revised terms of a partnership agreement between the companies; under the new pact, Zynga will have limited ability to promote its site on [...]

Nationwide Mutual Insurance said Wednesday it was the subject of a cyber attack resulting in compromised information for one million individuals.  Spokeswoman Elizabeth Giannetti confirmed a statement by the California Department of Insurance earlier in the day which said “names, social security numbers, and other identifying information” of one million policyholders and non-policy holders were exposed. No credit card details were revealed. Giannetti said the attack was discovered in October and is the subject of an “ongoing investigation” with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She said the Columbus, Ohio-based company will send letters to individuals whose information was exposed through [...]

Several manufacturing reports and some key housing data highlight next week’s economic calendar. Regional surveys of manufacturing data will be released beginning on Monday with the Dallas Fed report, followed by Richmond’s on Tuesday and Kansas City’s on Thursday. Investors will be looking for growth in these regions, hoping manufacturing picked up which would indicate growing demand for goods by consumers. Manufacturing wasn’t as hard hit as the housing market during the recent economic downturn.  On the housing front, the S&P Case Shiller home price index is out Tuesday. It tracks home prices in 20 large metropolitan areas and the [...]

SAN FRANCISCO The dollar turned up and Treasury prices resumed a small decline on Tuesday after a report showed U.S. housing starts unexpectedly rose to a 894,000 pace last month. The dollar index , which measures the greenback’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, turned up slightly to 80.886, reclaiming a gain before the data and versus 80.854 in late North American trade Monday. The euro traded at $ 1.2813 compared with $ 1.2816 Monday. Yields on 10-year notes , which move inversely to prices, rose 1 basis point to 1.63%. Traders will tune into a speech by [...]

The U.S. Treasury Department will report on government spending and receipts for the month of October at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. This is the first month of the 2013 fiscal year. The deficit has been above $ 1 trillion for the past four years. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the October deficit will be $ 113 billion, about $ 15 billion more that the deficit recorded in October 2011. However, if not for the timing of certain payments and two more days of tax collection, the deficit would have been less than the year before because of [...]

LOS ANGELES Weak economic data and a slightly stronger yen hurt Japanese stocks early Monday, with tech exporters and retailers among the leading decliners. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4% to 8,718.96, with the Topix down 0.5%, after data showed Japan’s economy contracting 0.9% in July-September, or 3.5% on a price-adjusted annualized basis, its worst drop since just after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. With the U.S. dollar remaining below the �79.50 level, many major exporters took a hit, as Sony Corp. lost 1.4%, Hitachi Ltd. down 1.2%, Toshiba Corp. lower by 1.1%. and Toyota Motor Corp. weaker by 0.6%. [...]