Topic: Asia

Shares of Hong Kong developer Chinese Estates Holdings slid 8 percent in resumed trade on Friday after the company said its chairman and chief executive would face prosecution in a Macau court over alleged bribery and money laundering.

Japan's core consumer prices edged up in April from a year earlier due to higher energy prices, but the meager pace was a sign the fragile economy was still a long way from achieving the central bank's target of 1 percent inflation.

China stocks are set for more rangebound trading on Friday, as investors continued to grapple with global and domestic economic uncertainties.

Rio Tinto, the world's No.2 producer of iron ore, sees no signs of a slowdown in demand from top consumer China and still plans to almost double its output of the steel-making ingredient by 2016.

The funding crisis for mainland Chinese property developers is intensifying, ratings agencies say, with real-estate builders facing spiking borrowing costs and a limited ability to raise cash at a time when sales and economic growth are slowing.

Continued weakness in China’s economic data, as well as growing risks of a Greek exit from the euro zone, will drive Beijing to launch aggressive stimulus measures in order to prevent a further deterioration of growth in the world’s second largest economy, economists and strategists told CNBC.

China's factories took a hit in May as export orders fell sharply, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, suggesting surprise weakness in April's hard economic data persists even as policymakers seek to shore up growth.

A debt crisis in the euro zone has sparked risk aversion, driving the dollar index to its highest since September 2010, and casting doubt on whether Beijing can afford to let the yuan to continue to strengthen against the dollar.

China stocks may trade lower on Thursday, weighed down by uncertainties about the global economy and China's own fiscal policy response.

China is rolling out sweeping brokerage reforms to nurture future global investment banks that officials hope could eventually compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, a regulatory document showed. 

As the high-end Chinese consumer becomes more discerning in a slowing luxury goods market, analysts say Hong Kong-listed Italian fashion house Prada can face up to the challenge given its attractive product mix and store expansion plans, forecasting huge gains for the company’s stock over the next 12 months.

The Ontario Securities Commission charged Sino-Forest and some of the Chinese forestry company's former executives with fraud on Tuesday, nearly a year after the allegations surfaced and its stock imploded.

Analysts say China stocks can only extend gains on Wednesday if volume can increase to match.

Greece should not be lulled into believing an exit from the euro would lead to the sort of short shock and sharp rebound that Argentina and Asian nations experienced when they devalued their currencies more than a decade ago.

Japan's scandal-tainted Olympus will not unveil an equity alliance at its major strategy briefing next month, despite speculation it might do so, sources said on Tuesday.