| * Asia stocks rally on Yellen's Fed defence * Sino-US stand-off threatens trade talks * Ukraine's shale gas lures west * India's retail brokers miss the party * Discontented Chile poised to return Michelle Bachelet to power * Mexico manufacturers warn recovery threatened by taxes * Martinez snaps up Argentina Telecom. Why? Markets: up! Asia stocks rally on Yellen's Fed defence
Equities respond to prospect of continued US liquidity support as Federal Reserve chair nominee Janet Yellen delivers dovish comments at her confirmation hearing
http://on.ft.com/HPH4yX Sino-US stand-off threatens trade talks
Negotiators meeting behind closed doors in Geneva are attempting to reach agreement in three key areas in advance of the Bali summit
http://on.ft.com/HPH5TC Ukraine's shale gas lures west
Recent deals and production-sharing talks have made the country one of Europe's most promising energy frontiers – and marks a huge turnround
http://on.ft.com/HPH4z2 India's retail brokers miss the party
Retail brokerages face toughest conditions in 10 years despite the rally, in contrast to counterparts in Japan enjoying a lucrative lift in trading volumes
http://on.ft.com/1aG2eGf Discontented Chile poised to return Michelle Bachelet to power
Presidential elections in Chile on Sunday are widely expected to herald a shift to the left with former president Michelle Bachelet returning to power after the rightwing government of Sebastián Piñera struggled to satisfy growing demands for greater equality.
http://on.ft.com/174Dieu Mexico manufacturers warn recovery threatened by taxes
Mexico's manufacturing assembly plants, which have been clawing back a competitive edge over China, are fighting a potential tax double whammy that they say risks reversing 10 years of progress.
http://on.ft.com/1j7OxFb Martinez snaps up Argentina Telecom. Why?
He's Mexican and rich. He owns important stakes in telecoms and media operations. But his name is not Carlos Slim. David Martínez is a studiously low-profile financier who is now spending $960m to add control of Telecom Argentina to his stable of investments, which includes a 40 per cent stake in Cablevision, the cable TV unit owned by Argentine media empire Clarín. Why? Let's face it, many other business folk tend to give Argentina a wide berth.
http://on.ft.com/1eRnMrf Emerging Markets
MSCI Emerging Market Index up +1.01% at 1,002 Americas
DJIA up +0.35% at 15,876
S&P 500 up +0.48% at 1,791
Bovespa up +2.34% at 53,452 Asia
Nikkei 225 up +1.98% at 15,171
Topix up +1.64% at 1,238
Hang Seng up +1.49% at 22,987
Shanghai Composite up +2.32% at 2,149
MSCI Asia ex-Japan up +1.25% at 544.84
CNX Nifty up +1.11% at 6,056 Currencies
€/$ 1.35 (1.35)
$/¥ 100.14 (99.98) Commodities
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.17 at 108.45
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.47 at 94.23
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +1.80 at 1,288 | 
