U.S. STOCK MARKETS

U.S. stocks erased earlier losses to finish the day roughly flat, as investors rode hopes that the Federal Reserve may act again to stimulate the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Wednesday's session off 30.82 points, or 0.2%, at 13172.76, after falling as many as 83 points earlier in the session. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and the Nasdaq Composite erased their losses to push higher.

The S&P 500 inched up 0.32 point, or less than 0.1%, to 1413.49, while the Nasdaq Composite added 6.41 points, or 0.2%, to 3073.67. The reversal came after the minutes of the July 31-Aug. 1 meeting of the Fed's policy-setting committee showed many members favoring more stimulus measures if there was no pick-up in economic growth.

That boosted expectations that the Fed could hint at further easing measures at a coming meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo., scheduled for the end of this month.

In mid-September, the Fed's rate-setting committee will meet again. Investors are divided on whether the measures will have much effect on the economy, but the central bank has proven its ability to drive stock and commodity prices higher. Industrials and telecommunications stocks led the market declines, but were largely offset by gains in materials and energy shares.

In U.S. economic news, a report on existing-home sales for July showed a rise to a 4.47 million annual rate, just short of expectations. In corporate news, Hewlett-Packard fell 3.7% ahead of its earnings report. In after-hours trading, H-P traded roughly flat after topping earnings expectations but missing revenue estimates.

Dell tumbled 5.4% after the computer company reported fiscal second-quarter revenue that fell short of analyst estimates, provided a downbeat sales outlook for the current quarter and lowered its full-year earnings outlook.

EUROPEAN STOCKS, BOND MARKETS

European stock markets suffered broad-based losses Wednesday, as investors grew jittery ahead of a series of meetings this week involving Greece's prime minister and European leaders.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 1.2% to close at 269.70, its worst daily performance since early August. Energy shares weighed heaviest on the pan- European index.

France's Total SA lost 1.6%, while Italy's ENI SpA gave up 1.7% and the U.K.'s BP PLC fell 0.8%. Also lower, Heineken NV fell 1.1%. The brewer said full-year profit before exceptional items is expected to come in broadly in line with last year's result on an organic basis.

European investors looked to a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker, which got under way late Wednesday afternoon, ahead of Mr. Samaras traveling to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel Friday.

On Saturday, Mr. Samaras will meet French President Francois Hollande. At issue is whether Greece has done enough to receive its next tranche of bailout money.

The prime minister has called for more time to implement austerity measures and told the German daily Bild that Greece needs some breathing space to revive the economy.

Media reports have in recent days suggested that it may initiate a plan to bring down Spanish and Italian borrowing costs. Markets were also looking ahead to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee's meeting three weeks ago, due after the European close.

In Germany, car makers were on the decline. Daimler AG lost 1.1% and BMW AG fell 0.4%. The DAX 30 index gave up 1% to 7,017.75. Among French stocks, Alstom SA and Sanofi SA both fell 2.2%.

The CAC 40 index closed 1.5% lower at 3,461.65. Meanwhile, banks ranked among notable decliners in London. Shares of Standard Chartered PLC lost 2.2%, Barclays PLC shed 1.5% and heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC fell 1.5%. The FTSE 100 index fell 1.4% to 5,774.20, pressured by miners and oil firms. BHP Billiton PLC fell 1.7% after reporting its first drop in annual profit for three years.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian markets fell Wednesday taking a pause after a strong rally in recent weeks and ahead of the release of U.S. Federal Reserve minutes.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down 1.1%, as commodity and retail stocks led declines. Earnings also remained in focus: Hong Kong and China Gas was down 0.7% after announcing a 27.8% on-year increase in net profit in the first half, resting after hitting a 52-week high Tuesday before the results were released. Oil giant Cnooc was 1.7% lower as investors continue to digests its earnings report released Tuesday.

The Shanghai Composite was 0.5% lower at 2107.71. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.3% at 9131.74 as a strengthening yen and disappointing trade data for July did little to help sentiment. Though the yen gave back some of its 0.2% overnight gains analysts said that the strengthening yen was impacting the local market.

South Korea's Kospi was down 0.4% at 1935.19 with investors offloading technology and chemical stocks. Samsung Electronics lost 1.4% and LG Chem dropped 0.2%.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday, in line with a weaker U.S. dollar against the euro, although there was some scepticism about the near-term durability of the recent base-metal gains.

At the close, LME three-month copper closed down 0.1% at $7,604 a metric ton. Tin, the most thinly traded base metal, posted the largest gains as it continued to find support from Indonesian production limitations.

Crude oil futures ended higher after minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy-making arm indicated further monetary easing could be deemed necessary fairly soon.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 42 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $97.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its first close above $97 since May 10.

Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe settled up 27 cents, or 0.2%, at $114.91 a barrel. Gold prices touched a three-month high after the Fed sent another strong signal that it is moving closer to launching a new round of easing measures.

Gold prices shot up $14.60 to $1,655.10 a troy ounce in after-market trading after the FOMC minutes were released. This was its highest price since May 2.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, had settled down $2.40, or 0.2%, at $1,640.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.