Asian Shares Mostly Lower but Nikkei Gains

US STOCKS

      Stocks ended little changed, as investors weighed the turmoil in Iraq against positive manufacturing data and a burst of corporate deal-making. Stocks spent the day fluctuating between gains and losses, with investors hesitant to lay big bets in either direction amid instability in Iraq and a coming update on Wednesday from the Federal Reserve. Traders reported light volumes, deepening a lull in trading activity that has settled across Wall Street trading desks this spring.

       Investors, meanwhile, focused on a raft of just-announced corporate deals. Covidien soared 21% after the medical-device maker said over the weekend that it agreed to be acquired by rival Medtronic for $42.9 billion. Medtronic's stock slipped 1.1%.

      Level 3 Communications announced an agreement to buy TW Telecom for about $5.6 billion in cash and stock. Shares of Level 3 fell 4.1%, while TW's surged 7.3%.

ASIAN STOCKS

     The Nikkei started the day 0.6% higher, as the market recovered from a 1.1% drop on Monday--the index's largest daily fall in a month. The index gave up some of those gains as the session progressed, and was last up 0.5%.

        Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2%, as mining companies were hit by further falls in the price of iron ore, which fell 2% to a fresh 21-month low. Rio Tinto lost 0.9% and Fortescue Metals Group was 2.7% lower.

         In China stocks were lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite down 0.5%.

           Trading was generally quiet, following a flat session in the U.S. overnight, as markets waited for the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday, which will give an update on the direction of monetary policy in the world's largest economy.

FOREX

The greenback was last trading at Y102.03, compared with Y101.83 late Monday in New York.

METALS

Nickel prices rose on continuing supply concerns Monday, leading base metals on the London Metal Exchange to close mostly higher.

At the close of open outcry trading in the London ring, LME three-month nickel was up 3.2% from Friday's settlement price, closing the day at $18,625 a metric ton.

OIL SUMMARY

U.S. and global oil prices diverged Monday as investors remained focused on the possible repercussions of instability in Iraq.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery, the U.S. benchmark, settled 1 cent lower at $106.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent futures rose 48 cents, or 0.4%, to $112.94 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

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