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Asian stock markets rose in early trading Monday, after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s prediction of long-term economic growth for the U.S. helped fuel a Wall Street rebound.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 8,845.19. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 jumped 1.7 percent to 4,270.60 and New Zealand’s NZX 50 rose 0.6 percent to 3,314.28.

Gold-related shares rose after prices of the precious metal rebounded Friday after a volatile week. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold miner, rose 1 percent.

On Friday in New York, gold for December delivery rose $34.10 to finish at $1,797.30 an ounce after nearly hitting $1,900 an ounce as Monday’s trading ended.

The euro was slightly down at $1.4482 from $1.4484 in late trading in New York. The dollar rose to 76.74 yen from 76.66 yen.

Market optimism was fueled Friday by a highly anticipated speech by Fed chief Bernanke at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. While he announced no new economic stimulus measures, as some investors had hoped, he did leave open the possibility of more action if another recession looks likely _ and he also emphasized the strengths of the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.2 percent to close at 11,284.54. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.5 percent to 1,176.80. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.5 percent to 2,479.85.

The Fed has said it plans to keep short-term interest rates low until mid-2013. Low rates on investments like bonds make higher-risk bets such as stocks more attractive.

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If the delicate compromise among Missouri lawmakers holds up through next month’s special session, the future of the state’s popular historic tax credit program will look much like the program did flexcheck cash advance… last year.

The plan expected to go before the House and Senate would cut the annual cap on historic credits

Shares of Dunkin’ Donuts parent company are set to start trading Wednesday morning after pricing at $19 per share, more than the $16 to $18 range it predicted two weeks ago.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., which also owns the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, sold about 22.3 million shares. That means it raised about $423 million before deducting underwriting expenses.

The underwriters, which include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co., and Barclays Capital Inc., also have the option to buy 3.3 more million shares in the next month. If they do, Dunkin’ would raise about $486 million.

Either way, Dunkin’ would raise more than it originally forecast: When the company first announced its intentions to go public in May, it said it expected to raise about $400 million.

Dunkin’ Brands said it plans to use the money to pay down its substantial debt.

The company, based in Canton, Mass., wants to grow outside its U.S. stronghold, the Northeast. It also is expanding internationally, with South Korea and the Middle East on its radar. The company says it has no plans to pay shareholder dividends “for the foreseeable future.”

The company’s current owners, a coterie of three private equity firms, will continue to play a powerful role at the company even after it goes public.

Together, Bain Capital Partners, Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners will own as much as 78 percent of the public Dunkin’ Brands, which will make it nearly impossible for any dissident shareholders to effect substantial changes. The three firms control six of the nine seats on the board of directors.

Shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “DNKN.”

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Premier Wen Jiabao has underlined China’s support for Europe and the euro as it grapples with its debt crisis, insisting that Beijing has confidence in the 17-nation currency.

Wen said after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that if Europe has difficulties, China will “reach out our helping hand.” He pointed to Chinese purchases of European bonds.

Wen says China is confident in Europe because it includes countries such as economically strong Germany and it has a skilled work force, among other reasons. He says the current difficulties are “only of temporary nature.”

Merkel says she assured Wen that Germany will do everything to ensure eurozone countries’ competitiveness but also the “necessary degree of solidarity.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BERLIN (AP) _ German and Chinese leaders on Tuesday pledged a big increase over the next few years in trade between their countries, the biggest economies of Europe and Asia, while China’s premier downplayed Europe’s current economic woes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Premier Wen Jiabao and many of his ministers to Berlin, a reception that underlined Germany’s hopes of deepening political and economic ties with fast-rising China.

Merkel said at a joint economic forum that Germany and China want to increase their annual bilateral trade volume to euro200 billion ($284 billion) by 2015.

Trade between China and Germany totaled just over euro130 billion last year, a 38.5 percent increase compared with 2009. China was the No. 7 buyer of German exports, at euro53.6 billion; and it led the list of importers to Germany, which bought Chinese goods and services worth euro76.5 billion.

Wen, speaking after Merkel, voiced hopes that the countries could even double their trade volume over five years.

China, which overtook Germany as the world’s biggest exporter in 2009, is now Germany’s third-biggest trading partner _ after France and the Netherlands, and ahead of the United States low interest rate personal loans.

“We both take the view that what is good can become better,” Merkel said. She added that China and Germany are “ideal partners” to develop electric cars for the future, for example, and said both sides want to “deepen our investment relationship.”

Germany has led growth in the 17-nation eurozone over the past year, posting an increase in output of 3.6 percent last year. It has “great opportunities for powerful growth this year” as well, Merkel said. Officials and economists say this year’s growth could total 3 percent or more.

Wen, whose visit to Germany followed stops in Hungary and Britain, stressed that ties with the European Union are of strategic importance to Beijing.

“Some EU countries are currently in economic difficulties,” Wen said in a reference to the debt crisis weighing on countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal. “But these are of temporary character.”

China, he said, is “full of confidence” in the EU’s development.

Wen said China is prepared to buy more high-quality German goods but also called for Berlin to quickly grant it formal recognition as a full market economy to help remove obstacles to trade.

He said that “we are not forcing anyone into technology transfer” but urged Germany to seek a loosening of EU export restrictions which, he argued, “significantly limit the export of Germany’s new technologies to China and the international competitiveness of German companies on the Chinese market.”

Merkel, Wen and their ministers were meeting at the chancellery later Tuesday.

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Asian stocks were mostly higher on hopes that a solution to Greece’s debt problems could be near even as talks between eurozone finance ministers broke up early Monday without an agreement.

Oil slipped below $93 a barrel while the dollar strengthened against the euro and yen.

Global stock markets were hammered for most of last week by fears that a default by Greece seemed imminent before rising Friday as hopes grew for a bailout deal. Investors fear a Greek default could set off a domino effect with other weak European economies.

Greece’s prime minister confirmed Sunday his nation was talking with world lenders about a second financial rescue package “roughly equal” to what it received last year. Meanwhile, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, chair of the regular meetings of the 17 eurozone finance ministers, said Greece will get the next euro12 billion of its existing euro110 billion bailout package in early July, but only if it manages to pass new spending cuts and economic reforms by the end of the month.

But he said as long as parliament supports the new measures, he was certain that Greece would also get a second bailout that will keep it afloat over the coming years as it works to restore its struggling economy.

“All eyes remain on Greece,” strategists at Credit Agricole CIB wrote in a research note. They added that “news this morning that the Eurogroup’s final decision on the country’s second bailout package has been delayed until early July will result in more uncertainty filtering through markets no fax payday loan.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was 0.6 percent higher at 9,406.84 while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 2,038.45. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.4 percent higher at 4,492.60 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent to 21,823.18. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand also rose while mainland Chinese shares were lower.

On Wall Street last week, the U.S. stock market eked out its first week of gains since April, helped by signs a solution to Greece’s debt problems were near.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.4 percent at 12,004.36. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.3 percent to 1,271.50. The technology-focused Nasdaq composite index lost 0.3 percent to 2,616.48.

Oil prices fell below $93 a barrel in Asia as a stronger U.S. dollar made commodities priced in the greenback more expensive to investors spending foreign currencies.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was down 64 cents to $92.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.94, or 2 percent, to settle at $93.01 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for August delivery was down 95 cents to $112.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In currencies, the euro slipped to $1.4271 from $1.4315 in late trading Friday in New York. The dollar edged up to 80.13 yen from 80.06 yen.

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The International Monetary Fund said Friday that it expects the U.S. economy to grow at slower pace this year than previously estimated, dragged down by higher oil prices and lower factory output.

The lending organization also warned that the European debt crisis poses a growing threat to the global economy. It cited investors’ increasing concerns that Greece’s government won’t be able to implement the changes necessary to avoid defaulting on its debt.

The U.S. is forecast to grow 2.5 percent this year, down from the IMF’s April estimate of 2.8 percent. Growth will likely be 2.7 percent next year, the IMF said, rather than 2.9 percent. Both estimates are below the 2.9 percent growth the U.S. recorded in 2010. The global economy will likely grow 4.3 percent this year, down from an earlier estimate of 4.4 percent.

The lower U.S. forecast is similar to many recent downgrades by private economists. A survey this month of 38 economists by The Associated Press found that they expect growth of 2.6 percent this year, down from an earlier estimate of 2.9 percent.

By contrast, the IMF boosted its forecast for the 17-nation euro area, which it said it expects to grow 2 percent this year. That’s compared to a previous forecast of 1.6 percent Low fee payday loans. The improved outlook is largely due to higher business investment spending in Germany and France.

Large budget deficits in the U.S. and Japan could threaten their economies, the IMF said.

Both countries should take steps to cut their deficits, but at a gradual pace, the IMF said. Rapid spending cuts or tax increases could threaten the two countries’ “tepid recoveries.”

“For the U.S., it is critical to immediately address the debt ceiling and launch a deficit reduction plan that includes entitlement reform and revenue-raising tax reform,” the fund said.

The Obama administration and Republican lawmakers are negotiating over how to raise the nation’s legal debt limit of $14.3 trillion, which the administration says it will reach Aug. 2. Republicans are insisting on about $2 trillion in cuts over 10 to 12 years before agreeing to raise the ceiling.

The Washington-based fund has 187 member nations and lends money to countries in financial distress. It has played a key role in negotiating and financing European Union bailout packages for Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

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The top lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board told a congressional committee Friday that while an NLRB complaint against Boeing Co. may make South Carolina workers feel vulnerable and anxious, the legal action is aimed at protecting the rights of workers everywhere.

The NLRB is suing the aeronautics giant alleging the manufacturer located its new 787 jet assembly line in South Carolina to retaliate against union workers in Washington state who went on strike in 2008.

The congressional hearing is the latest episode in a dispute between the NLRB, which has a majority of Democratic appointees, and GOP lawmakers and Boeing. The NLRB wants that work returned to Washington state, even though the company opened its $750 million South Carolina plant last week.

“Boeing has every right to manufacture planes in South Carolina, or anywhere else, for that matter, as long as those decisions are based on legitimate business considerations,” Lafe Solomon, the agency’s acting general counsel, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Relations meeting in South Carolina.

South Carolina’s Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who with 15 other GOP governors asked that the complaint be dismissed, called the complaint “an attack on our employers trying to keep business in America.”

The plant represents the single largest industrial investment in the history of South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

The NLRB complaint went before a judge in Seattle earlier in the week and an attorney for Boeing asked that it be dismissed, adding it had cast a shadow over the company’s employees, supplies and investments. The company said that no one has lost a job in Washington state and that Boeing has added more than 3,000 jobs at its assembly site in Everett, Wash.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson called the complaint “the shot heard around the business world” and said it could allow the NLRB to decide where companies invest business capital loan for people with bad credit.

Haley warned that workers across the nation could suffer if companies take business overseas.

“The retaliation is coming from the president. The retaliation is coming from the NLRB. It is not coming from Boeing,” she said.

Solomon told the panel’s Republican chairman, Darrell Issa of California, that the White House played no role in his decision to bring the complaint.

Before the hearing began, a small group of protesters gathered outside holding signs saying Chicago-based Boeing must create jobs legally.

Georgette Carr, who has worked as a union dock worker for 10 years, said South Carolina needs good jobs but “companies that come here need to play by the rules.”

Democrats on the committee strongly questioned why the panel was holding a field hearing the same week the NLRB complaint went to court.

“I am very concerned about the timing. His (Solomon’s) testimony today raises questions about the due process rights of litigants,” said U.S. Rep. Carolyn Malony of New York.

Haley has made no secret she opposes unions.

The International Association of Machinists and AFL-CIO sued earlier this year, asking for a court order telling Haley and state Department of Labor director Catherine Templeton to remain neutral in union matters in South Carolina.

The lawsuit stemmed from several remarks, including those Haley made last December when she nominated Templeton. Haley said her background would be helpful in state fights against unions, particularly at the new Boeing plant.

A federal judge is expected to rule next week on a motion to dismiss that case.

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Maple Group Acquisition Corp. says it has been in discussion with a number of additional potential investors to join its group of nine Canadian banks and pension plans that want to take over TMX Group.

A spokesman would not confirm reports that the investors are Desjardins Financial Group, GMP Capital Inc., and Dundee Capital Markets.

But Peter Block says the consortium has seen a considerable interest from the potential investors, which he says is a vote of confidence in its alternative proposal for the TMX Group (TSX: X), which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange and other Canadian exchanges no credit check payday loans.

New investors could help the group sweeten its $3.6-billion takeover proposal, which has already been rejected by the TMX Group.

Maple plans to mail out its proposal directly to shareholders this week.

The TMX Group is pushing ahead with plans to merge with the London Stock Exchange Group and will hold a special shareholder meeting later this month to vote on the agreement.

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Moody’s Investors Service is reviewing the ratings of Bank of America Corp. Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. for possible downgrades.

The three banks’ current ratings get a boost from an assumption the federal government would prevent them from failing in a crisis. Moody’s said Thursday that this assumption may no longer be true.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Moody’s senior vice president Sean Jones said the Dodd-Frank Act makes clear the government “does not want to bail out even large, systemically important banking groups.”

Moody’s currently rates Bank of America’s senior debt A2, Citigroup’s A3 and Wells Fargo’s A1. Implied government backing pushes Bank of America’s rating up five spots, Citigroup’s up four spots and Wells Fargo’s three spots.

A downgrade would raise the banks’ borrowing costs.

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