The Traderszone Network

Asian share markets were in a mixed mood on Wednesday as the mounting risks of a hike in U.S. interest rates as early as next month lifted the dollar and bond yields, pressuring currencies across the region. Moves were mostly minor with Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) up 0.2 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI (.KS11) off 0.1 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.5 percent.

Drugmaker Shire (SHP.L) said on Tuesday it was seeking to buy Baxalta (BXLT.N), a company spun-off by Baxter International (BAX.N) last month, for $30 billion to forge the leading global specialist in rare diseases. Baxalta rebuffed the offer on Tuesday and said in a statement that Shire’s unsolicited offer significantly undervalued the company. Shire’s all-share offer values each Baxalta share at $45.23, based on Aug. 3 market prices.

Both Greece and its lenders said on Tuesday they were optimistic they could broker a deal within days on a multi-billion euro bailout, striking a surprisingly upbeat tone on a process previously fraught with bitterness. A bailout worth up to 86 billion euros ($94.5 billion) must be settled by Aug. 20 — or a second bridge loan agreed — if Greece is to pay off debt of 3.5 billion euros to the European Central Bank that matures on that day. Wrapping up a day of talks in Athens, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said negotiations were going better than expected.

Has the “curse of the Dow” finally caught up with Apple? The recent declines have wiped out nearly $100 billion of Apple’s market value – about as much as fellow Dow components Boeing and McDonald’s are worth in total.

New orders for U.S. factory goods rebounded strongly in June on robust demand for transportation equipment and other goods, a hopeful sign for the struggling manufacturing sector. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8 percent after declining 1.1 percent in May. “We are moving past the very weak period for the manufacturing sector from early on this year, but that activity has yet to meaningfully increase,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

The media company now expects annual operating income growth at the unit in the mid-single digits for fiscal years 2013 to 2016, Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said on a conference call. The company cut its forecast because it expects lower revenue from a decline in subscribers and the impact of foreign exchange rates, McCarthy said. Sports network ESPN has experienced “modest” subscriber losses as viewing habits have shifted to digital platforms, Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said.

Boeing Co (BA.N) is scrambling to find alternate financing for a satellite contract worth “several hundred million dollars” that was scuttled by privately held commercial satellite provider ABS due to uncertainty about the future of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. ABS told Boeing, the largest U.S. exporter, that it would have to consider non-U.S.-based producers to build ABS-8, given the absence of U.S. export credit financing, the sources said.

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