Asian shares were little moved as investors waited to see if the US Federal Reserve on Thursday outlines another bout of quantitative easing, or at least reaffirms its commitment to intervene should economic conditions warrant it. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.5 per cent while South Korea's Kospi was up 0.1 per cent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.3 per cent. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng was flat and on the mainland the Shanghai Composite was down 0.5 per cent. It's QE3 day - maybe. Many economists are confident the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will deliver a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3. On median, they see a 60 percent chance, according to a Reuters poll. The decision is due at about 12.30pm New York time or 5.30pm in London. The stocks of Asian suppliers to Apple saw mixed reactions to the iPhone 5 launch. TDK and Murata Manufacturing of Japan both rose substantially while shares in South Korean companies LG Display and SK Hynix both fell more than 1% and Taiwan's Hon Hai only rose 0.2%. EADS and BAE Systems are discussing a €38bn tie-up that would create a European rival to Boeing and could in turn trigger a huge shake-up among the US defense industry. Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has launched an ambitious S$8.8bn ($7.1bn) cash offer for Fraser and Neave, the Singapore conglomerate at the centre of a bid battle for one of Asia's biggest beer makers. The move could thwart efforts by Heineken to acquire control of Asia Pacific Breweries, maker of Tiger beer, and expand into Asia's fast-growing market. Some European banks still conducting Iranian business: Several large European banks including Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Santander and HSBC have continued handling transactions for Iranian entities and foreign companies that operate in Iran, despite vowing to stop doing business with Iran, a review of regulatory filings and other documents shows. Where's Xi update: Chinese state media reported late on Wednesday night that president-in-waiting Xi Jinping expressed condolences to the family of a veteran Communist Party official who died last week. But Beijing has still not issued a statement directly responding to rumours over the 59-year-old's health, which have included a bad back and heart trouble. "Wall Street underwriters increasingly are allowing corporate insiders to sidestep agreements that prevent them from quickly selling shares after initial public offerings." Underwriters have allowed 10 of these agreements to expire early in 2012, in some cases three months before the original lockup expiry. Zynga, ExactTarget and BazaarVoice are three examples. Somebody still loves netbooks. The word from WEF Tianjin is locals are more bearish than foreigners. China's shadow bankers are disappearing, leaving thousands of victims in their wake. Bankers" misbehaviour: It's the incentives, stupid. The financial hiring/relocation boom in Singapore. Asian markets Nikkei 225 up +53.48 (+0.60%) at 9,013 Topix up +3.68 (+0.50%) at 745.50 Hang Seng up +8.58 (+0.04%) at 20,084 US markets S&P 500 up +3.00 (+0.21%) at 1,437 DJIA up +9.99 (+0.07%) at 13,333 Nasdaq unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 3,114 European markets Eurofirst 300 up +0.85 (+0.08%) at 1,108 FTSE100 down -10.11 (-0.17%) at 5,782 CAC 40 unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 3,544 Dax unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 7,344 Currencies €/$ 1.29 (1.29) $/¥ 77.76 (77.84) £/$ 1.61 (1.61) Commodities ($) Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.14 at 116.10 Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.06 at 97.07 100 Oz Gold (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 1,731 Copper (Comex) down -0.25 at 370.75 10-year government bond yields (%) US 1.76 UK 1.83 Germany 1.64 CDS (closing levels) Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -4.18bps at 188.25bp Markit iTraxx Europe -2.21bps at 125.08bp Markit iTraxx Xover -9.64bps at 492.61bp Markit CDX IG -2.87bps at 90.89bp This entry was posted by Kate Mackenzie on Thursday, September 13th, 2012 at 5:40 and is filed under Uncategorised.