Top U.S. and Chinese commerce officials spoke by telephone and agreed to promote healthy trade and cooperate over differences, China’s commmerce ministry said on Thursday, the latest high-level exchange as the countries spar over disagreements.

TOKYO (Reuters) - World stock prices held near record highs on Wednesday, while U.S. bond yields flirted with their lowest levels in a month, as investors bet the Federal Reserve is some way off from tapering its economic stimulus.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar clung to a small bounce on Wednesday as traders looked to upcoming U.S. inflation data and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting to gauge the global recovery and policymakers’ thinking.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s factory gate prices rose at their fastest annual pace in over 12 years in May due to surging global commodity prices and a low base of comparison, while consumer prices increased for the third straight month but at a slower-than-expected rate.

Oil prices rose for a second day on Wednesday on signs of strong fuel demand in Europe, while the prospect of a near-term return of Iranian oil supply faded as the U.S. secretary of state said sanctions against Tehran were unlikely to be lifted.

HONG KONG, June 8 (Reuters) - Asia stocks reversed early gains on Tuesday, with traders sidelined ahead of U.S. inflation data and a European monetary policy meeting this week while oil prices lost more ground on worries over the fragile state of the global recovery.