| The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5 per cent at 141.22 as of 7:43 pm in Tokyo. The gauge, which swung between gains and losses at least 17 times on Wednesday, accelerated its advance late in the day as a strengthening yen boosted the value of Japanese stocks on the dollar-denominated index. |
| The MSCI benchmark has declined 11 per cent this year amid concern a US housing slump will drag the world's largest economy into a recession. |
| Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 0.3 per cent to 12,706.63. The number of shares traded in Tokyo was the lowest for a full day this year. About 85 per cent of the companies in the Nikkei traded without the right to a dividend from on Wednesday, erasing about 103 points from the measure. |
| EUROPE European stock-index futures fell. Man Group may retreat after the net-asset value of its flagship fund slipped last week. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group might advance as base metal prices climbed. Hochtief will probably be active after Germany's largest construction company reported profit that beat analysts' estimates. |
| Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, lost 14 points, or less than 0.4 per cent, to 3,537 at 7:44 am in London. Aviva, British Sky Broadcasting Group, and Smiths Group are among eight companies on the FTSE 100 trading without the right to their latest dividend on Wednesday. |
| US US stock-index futures fell after Oppenheimer & Co analyst Meredith Whitney slashed earnings estimates for US banks, adding to concerns that further writedowns would curb profit growth. |
| Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June lost 2.6 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,348.8 at 9:02 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 18 points to 12,494. Nasdaq-100 Index futures fell 0.25 points to 1,825. |
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