STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Fed comments, oil drop may lift shares

SYDNEY, July 9 (Reuters) - Asian shares may rise on
Wednesday, after reassuring comments from the U.S. Federal
Reserve lifted Wall Street and the dollar, and as a steep fall
in oil prices helped soothe worries about consumer spending.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central
bank might extend emergency lending facilities for big Wall
Street banks past year-end, lifting financial shares and the
U.S. dollar.

Investors took comfort in Bernanke's comments, which
signalled that the Fed was determined to stop the
housing-inspired credit crisis from wreaking further havoc on
the economy.

Oil prices CLc1 tumbled more than $5 on Tuesday, pushing
losses so far this week to about $10, as forecasters said an
Atlantic hurricane would steer clear of offshore oil platforms.

Asian stocks listed on Wall Street .BKAS inched up 0.02
percent overnight, while the MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific
stocks excluding Japan .MSCIAPJ fell 2.3 percent on Tuesday.

HEADLINES: > Wall St. rises on banks, lower oil; Alcoa up
late [nN08312815] > Alcoa's profit lower but tops Street
forecasts
[nN08280184] > Fed may keep open lifeline; housing dismal in
May [nN08193843] > Oil slumps on easing storm worry, dollar

[nSIN217663] > US SEC finds serious shortcomings in credit
raters[nN08295092] > IndyMac depositors pull cash as mortgage
woe soars[nN08264800] > UMC June sales fall 7.3 pct, first drop
since Jan [nTP87163] > Philips transfers PC monitor business
to TPV [nL08323705] > Japan's Seven & I, Aeon post slow Q1,
keep outlook [nT203194] > China Southern ups fuel charge on
overseas flights [nSHA2477] > Steel Partners says recommends
sale of Sapporo [nT47124] > Plunging oil, lower metals
prices knock ADRs [nN08284588]

KEY INDEXES pct change

Bank of New York Asia ADR index .BKAS +0.02

Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI +1.36

Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC +2.28

MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan .MSCIAPJ -2.28

Nikkei futures in Chicago 2NKc1 -0.49

Nikkei futures in Osaka JNIc1 0

ASIAN ADR ACTION:

5 most actively traded: price change/pct

TSMC (TSM.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(2330.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) 0.20

Infosys Tech (INFY.O: Quote, Profile, Research)(INFY.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) 0.73

UMC (UMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(2303.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) -2.86

BHP Billiton (BHP.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) -1.44

Siliconware (SPIL.O: Quote, Profile, Research)(2325.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) -0.29

Top 5 performers: price change/pct

Webzen (WZEN.O: Quote, Profile, Research)(069080.KQ: Quote, Profile, Research) 9.31

Tom Online (TOMO.O: Quote, Profile, Research)8282.HK 8.84

James Hardie (JHX.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(JHX.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) 4.79

HDFC Bank (HDB.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(HDBK.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) 4.56

ICICI Bank (IBN.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(ICBK.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) 4.06

Bottom 5 performers: price change/pct

AU Optronics (AUO.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(2409.TW: Quote, Profile, Research) -6.42

Makita Corp. (MKTAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research)(6586.T: Quote, Profile, Research) -4.13

Shanghai Pechem (SHI.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(0338.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) -4.02

Advantest (ATE.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(6857.T: Quote, Profile, Research) -4.01

Alumina (AWC.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(AWC.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) -3.91

TOP ASIA EVENTS:

For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY]

JAPAN - Tokyo Electron (8035.T: Quote, Profile, Research) April-June orders

preliminary count

SEOUL - LG Display Co Ltd (034220.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) Q2 results

SYDNEY - Housing finance

Westpac-MI consumer sentiment index May
(Reporting by Geraldine Chua; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)