US markets closed higher and Asian stocks rose for a third day on growing hopes stimulus measures will be deployed, reports Bloomberg, along with news of bailout discussions for Spain's banks and better than expected Australian employment data. European officials are discussing a bailout programme for Spanish banks involving "very limited conditionality," with few new austerity measures unlike bailouts provided to Greece, Portugal and Ireland, says the FT. Citing people familiar with the plans, the report says "EU support would instead be contingent on increased external oversight and accelerated restructuring of the Spanish financial sector." Federal Reserve vice-president Janet Yelland indicated support for easing measures in speech on Wednesday night warning of "significant downside risks" and saying it "may well be appropriate to insure against adverse shocks," reports Reuters. Bondholders are looking for more signals from Ben Bernanke's Congressional appearance on Thursday morning, the FT reports. Bank of Cyprus is set to join the UK's deposit protection scheme from about mid-July, reports the FT, as it moves to insulate its 50,000 British savers from further turmoil in Greece. New UK manufacturing and retail figures were relatively upbeat, with the EEF/BDO manufacturers" survey showing output and orders remained positive in the second quarter, while retail sales were boosted at the end of May by good weather according to the British Retail Consortium, the FT reports. Apple has filed a lawsuit in the US requesting a sales ban on Samsung's newest smartphone model, the Galaxy S III, reports the WSJ. Samsung said it would proceed as planned with its launch and sales plans for the device. Knight Capital has labelled as "unacceptable" an offer from Nasdaq OMX of compensation of up to $40m to cover broker losses due to the Facebook IPO glitch. Knight, one of the largest such firms, said "As previously stated, the company is evaluating all remedies available under law," the FT reports. Don't let Spain become a "roach motel," says Mohamed El-Erian. Global banks have "hit a wall" in China. Facebook is the favourite short among US large caps. John Gapper: The point of no return was when Corzine took the MF Global job. Japanese corporate leaders are globetrotting, again. There's probably little the ECB can do now anyway. Google has unveiled security measures aimed specifically at snooping governments. Markets went firmly risk-on in America and Asia amid growing hopes over a Spanish bank bailout and monetary stimulus measures. This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Thursday, June 7th, 2012 at 5:40 and is filed under Uncategorised. Tagged with briefings.