Market News

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Shares of New Newscorp Inc. fell 15 Australian cents to 14.85 Australian dollars ($14.04) Wednesday as they began trading in Sydney. The company holds the publishing assets that were spun off by media conglomerate News Corp. More than 4.6 million New Newscorp shares were traded in the first 15 minutes of their debut, according to FactSet data. News Corp. , whose entertainment business assets will be owned under the 21st Century Fox name, fell 7.8%, but were off session lows. The split between the two companies will be effective on June 28. News Corp.'s properties include MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks pulled lower in cautious trade Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's monetary-policy decision for clues on its bond purchases. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.45 to 21,143.56 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1.2% to 9,616.73. Shares of China Coal Energy Co. fell 3.2%, China Construction Corp. dropped 1.1% and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. shed 2.3%. Shares of heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC inched up 0.1% although the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said Tuesday it was investigating HSBC and other banks over the possible rigging of local benchmark interest rates. China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 2,141.31.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A Chinese media report quoted former National Security Agency contract Edward Snowden as saying the U.S. government used Cisco Systems Inc. routers to spy on Chinese networks. The report on the Chinese-language site Techweb.com, dated Tuesday, also said that Cisco had been involved in many major Chinese Internet infrastructure projects, including those of military and government networks. However, an English-language report on TechinAsia.com, which cited the Techweb report and other Chinese media accounts, questioned whether Snowden in fact named Cisco, as some of the reports incorrectly named Cisco as part of the NSA's "Prism" operation.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks rose in early trade Wednesday, following up on Wall Street's rally before the U.S. Federal Reserve addresses its outlook on its stimulus measures. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 4,837, with strong gains from most mining issues. Shares of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. climbed 2.4% as iron-ore prices advanced, Rio Tinto Ltd. jumped 2% and BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 1%. Gold producer Newcrest Mining Ltd. , however, shed 0.5%. Banking shares were mostly lower, as Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp. fell 0.7% each. Meanwhile, shares of New Newscorp. Inc. , the publishing division spun off by media conglomerate News Corp., will start trading in Australia later Wednesday. News Corp.[au:nws] , whose entertainment business assets will be owned under the 21st Century Fox name, fell 9.4% in early trading. News Corp.'s properties include MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks jumped on Wednesday as a weaker yen and expectations that the Federal Reserve may not signal a tapering of its bond purchases pulled in buyers and spurred gains across sectors. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.2% to 13,289 and the broader Topix climbed 2.2% to 1,110.38. Shipping stocks led the rally, with utilities, steel makers and financials also posting strong gains. Shares of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. soared 7.4%, JFE Holdings Inc. climbed 4.9% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. added 4%. Camera manufacturers rose in the wake of a Nikkei newspaper report that the top eight digital-camera makers are poised to get on the path to recovery, with top firms Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp. anticipating strong profit growth. Canon climbed 1.9% and Nikon gained 1.5%.

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japan's exports surged in May, as the yen traded at its weakest levels of the year, with the result leading to a smaller-than-expected trade deficit. Japanese exports rose 10.1% from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday, with the results beating a 6.5% rise forecast in a Reuters survey, and a 5% increase tipped in a separate Dow Jones Newswires survey. The surge got help from an 8.3% rebound in exports to China, with U.S.-bound shipments up 16.3%, though those to the European Union fell 4.9%. Imports were 10% higher than the year-earlier period, as the weak yen drove up prices for foreign energy and other goods and services, but with the result still below a 10.8% increase expected in the Reuters poll. The resulting trade deficit for May totalled ¥993.9 billion ($10.4 billion), with both the Dow Jones and Reuters surveys having called for a trade gap of about ¥1.2 trillion. The yen briefly fell after the data but soon rebounded, with the dollar easing mildly to ¥95.50 from ¥95.58 just ahead of the figures.

Google is citing the First Amendment in a new push for more transparency. The company wants to be able to publish national security government user-data requests separately.

Co announces that as a result of its acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Aurizon Mines, it has acquired CDN$500,000 of common shares of Typhoon Exploration pursuant to an option agreement entered into between Typhoon and Aurizon dated May 17, 2010, as amended. The TSX Venture Exchange has conditionally approved the transaction, in which Hecla through Aurizon has acquired 5,555,556 comm...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White on Tuesday said the agency will seek admissions of wrongdoing in some enforcement cases going forward, partially reversing the agency's predominant practice of allowing companies and individuals to settle lawsuits without admitting or denying allegations. "We are going to, in certain cases, be seeking admissions [of wrongdoing] going forward," she said at a Wall Street Journal event. "I think public accountability in particular kinds of cases can be quite important. If you don't get them, you litigate them." However, she added that the "no admit or deny" approach for enforcement actions will always be a major tool for the SEC. She added that the kinds of cases the agency will evaluate in this area depends on the kind of harm that is done to investors and the level of egregiousness of the fraud. She told reporters after speaking to the conference that these cases would not need to have a criminal component. The co-directors of the enforcement division will be giving guidance on the new approach to agency staff, she said.

Co announced the presentation of preliminary results from a Phase 1b study of MN-166 (ibudilast) in methamphetamine addiction at the 75th Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) in San Diego on June 18, 2013. Preliminary results from one cognitive performance task, presented in a poster session, showed significant improvement in measures of sustained attention in subjec...