Japan

Foreign stocks have become so popular in the United States that whole exchanges are now shopping abroad. Both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have been competing to buy the centuries-old London Stock Exchange.

China's yuan currency can probably begin to rise more swiftly given the reforms Beijing has put in place, but gradualism is still the guiding philosophy, the head of China's central bank said on Saturday.

The Nikkei rose 0.68 percent on Wednesday as Canon Inc. (7751.T) and other exporters climbed after U.S. stocks posted their biggest gains in a year on expectations the U.S. interest rate-hike cycle may be near an end.

Mercedes Benz, the luxury arm of Daimler-Chrysler AG, plans to introduce a new generation of diesel powered vehicles in Japan this fall. Mercedes hopes that a re-engineered diesel engine can spur sales in a country where diesel technology is seen as dirty and outdated compared to gasoline.

U.S. government debt prices fell Monday as a mixed bag of economic data reinforced expectations the Fed could raise interest rates at least once more.

Softbank Corp. has reached an agreement to buy the Japan unit of British mobile phone company Vodafone for 1.75 trillion yen, or $15 billion.