Wall Street ended around 0.2 percent lower, off session lows, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave his most detailed insight yet into how emergency supports put in place during the crisis might be withdrawn.
That offset the optimism spurred by a report in French daily Le Monde that France and Germany will present a plan to the European Union summit to support debt-laden Greece later on Thursday.
British shares rose 0.4 percent and European shares rose 0.6 percent as financials gained on the Greece debt rescue plan.
The euro eased against the U.S. dollar weighed by uncertainty about the European Union meeting outcome. Bernanke's comments about possible rate rises 'before long' also boosted the dollar.
Activity through the region is also likely to be dampened with Japanese financial markets closed for the National Foundation Day holiday.
Australian shares are seen as likely to dip with share index futures at 4,495, a 18.4-point discount to the underlying index's close on Wednesday.
HEADLINES: > Fed's Bernanke outlines plan for policy shift > Wall Street dips as Bernanke offsets Greece report > Geithner says financial system healing, needs work > Euro zone in intense talks on Greek rescue plan > Toyota dealers have 70,000 stranded vehicles -exec > U.S. trade gap widens in Dec to $40.2 billion > U.S. raises global oil demand forecast; OPEC trims > SEC probes Airgas trades ahead takeover bid-source > Google plans experiment to offer superfast Web > Prudential Financial posts quarterly profit > Japan's Mitsubishi takes stake in Chile CAP unit
KEY INDEXES pct change
Bank of New York Asia ADR index -0.56
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.20
Nasdaq Composite Index -0.14
MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan +0.42
Nikkei futures in Chicago 10,055
Nikkei futures in Osaka 9,990
TOP ASIA EVENTS:
For more Asian company earnings, see
JAPAN - National Foundation Day holiday
AUSTRALIA - Labour force January
- Rio Tinto full-year results
- Telstra H1 results
- James Hardie Q3 results
STH KOREA - Bank of Korea monthly rate-setting meeting,
results due around 11:00 a.m. (0200 GMT)
(Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing Gyles Beckford)
((adrian.bathgate@reuters.com; +64-4-4714233; Reuters Messaging: adrian.bathgate.reuters.com@reuters.net)) For top Asian company news, double click on: U.S. company news European company news U.S. weekly outlook European weekly outlook Forex news Global Economy news Tech/Telecoms/Media Banking news Political/General news Asia Macro data ASIA STOCK MARKETS: Pan-Asia........ Japan....... S.Korea... S.E. Asia....... Hong Kong... Taiwan.... Australia/NZ.... India....... China..... DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary/data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Hong Kong diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks Asian Stocks Dow Jones/NASDAQ / Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt Currency rates Keywords: MARKETS ASIA (If you have a query or comment on this story send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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