Seoul shares opened higher on Wednesday after overnight gains in Wall Street on the increased likelihood of a U.S. government stimulus package, with technology issues such as Hynix leading gains.

The number of Britons finding work and demand for staff fell in December at the sharpest rate since at least 1997, while unemployment likely topped two million at the end of last year, a survey indicated on Wednesday.

Annual growth in British take-home pay fell to its lowest level in almost a year in December, sinking to 2.9 percent from 3.5 percent in November, data from payments company VocaLink showed on Wednesday.

Kenneth Lewis, chief executive at Bank of America Corp's, has recommended that his board of directors not pay him a bonus for 2008, a difficult year for the largest bank in the United States.

The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print and/or Web site editions on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Europe faced a deepening energy crunch and more sub-zero temperatures on Wednesday, with Moscow and Kiev showing little sign of a swift resolution of a pricing dispute that has slashed Russian gas supplies to the West.

Seoul shares may open higher on

Toronto's main stock index finished higher for a sixth straight session on Tuesday buoyed by strength across its three biggest sectors -- financials, energy, and materials.

Federal Reserve officials believed the U.S. economy would face 'substantial' risks even as benchmark interest rates were cut to near zero, with some worrying about the risk of deflation, minutes of a December rate-setting meeting released on Tuesday...

LyondellBasell's U.S. operations