Tokyo  Nikkei  9889.72  -0.85%
Seoul   KOSPI  2130.21  -0.01%
Shanghai SSEC  2796.98  -0.70%
Hong Kong HSI 21902.40  +0.45%
Singapore STI  3096.12  +0.56%
Mumbai    BSE 18653.87  +0.79%
Sydney   AORD  4539.40  -0.01% 
    
1. China Tax Revenue Increases 29.6%
The revenue in the H1 of the year jumped to US$773B, compared with a 32.4% gain in Q1. Revenue from corporate income tax climbed 38.3% while personal income tax soared 35.4%.
 
2. HK Stocks Rise as Commodity Shares Climb
Hang Seng Index gained 0.5%, reversing its earlier decline of 0.9% as European stocks advanced after big companies reported increasing profits.
 
3. Baidu Reaches China Licensed Music Deals
The owner of China's most popular search-engine got an agreement to distribute music from companies including Sony and Universal Music, ending a dispute with the record labels.
 
4. Indonesia Aims 2011 Investment to Grow 15%
The investment coordinating board of the country expected the total investment to jump to US$28B. The investment for Q1 climbed 27.3% to US$6.25B.
 
5. Taiwan's Hon Hai Buys Factory from Cisco
The US network equipment maker will sell a set-top box plant in Mexico to Hon Hai and transfer 5,000 employees to the latter. The financial term wasn't disclosed.
 
6. S Korea Bans Finance Firms to Buy Kimchi Bonds
The central bank wanted to curb the rise of foreign debt. The nation's short-term foreign debt stood at US$146.7B as of the end of March, up US$11.7B from 3 months earlier.
 
7. Toyota Utilizing Hybrid to Help Power Crunch
Japan's biggest automaker will donate emergency power supply systems linked to its Prius hybrid cars to states in the Tohoku region ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
 
8. Malaysia Stock Exchange's Q2 Profit Climbs 30%
Bursa Malaysia posted a net income of US$12M in the 3 months ended June 30. The average daily trading volume of the exchange gained 26% to 993.7M shares in the quarter.
 
9. Gunmen Kidnap 8 Pakitani Aid Workers
The workers had been distributing food to refugees in a dangerous region of the country close to the Afgan border. It was not clear which group they were working for.
 
10. Asian Ministers Discuss South China Sea
Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations arrived Indonesia for annual forum, with Vietnam and the Philippines accusing China of interfering in energy exploration efforts in the disputed waters.