MELBOURNE: Australian shares firmed 0.1 percent on Thursday, recovering from a one-month low as miners bounced back on upbeat comments from world No.3 miner Rio Tinto Ltd. Local job numbers are now awaited, as are Chinese trade balance results. While Australia is forecast to have shed 5,000 jobs, China's April trade data should show exports stabilising as imports tick higher, reinforcing the view that the world's second-biggest economy is gradually recovering. Also encouraging was a fall in the ...

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan stocks fell on Monday in thin volume as investors awaited direction on the political front from the release of former army chief Sarath Fonseka, who is President Mahinda Rajapaksa's highest-profile rival. Sri Lanka's former army chief walked free from jail on Monday with a pardon from President Rajapaksa, who appears to have bowed to growing international demands. The trading volume slumped to a five week low as investors stayed sidelined to see if there ...

NEW YORK: Wall Street edged higher at the open on Monday, rebounding from its worst weekly decline for the year, on assurances that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29.71 points, or 0.24 percent, to 12,399.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2.73 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,297.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 4.26 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,783.05. Copyright Reuters, 2012 ...