Linde, Praxair offer concessions in bid to win EU okay for merger

German industrial gases company Linde (LING.DE) and U.S. peer Praxair (PX.N) have offered concessions in a bid to address EU antitrust concerns and secure approval for their merger.

The companies submitted their offer on June 20, according to a filing on the European Commission website on Thursday. The EU competition enforcer extended its deadline for a decision to Aug. 24, without providing details of the concessions. 

Sources say the companies plan to divest assets in Europe and the United States where the deal is also under regulatory scrutiny.

Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp (4091.T) and private equity firm Carlyle Group CG.N are the frontrunners to buy assets, sources told Reuters earlier this week. Securing a potential buyer could help allay regulatory worries.

Asia stocks tiptoe higher, dollar holds most gains as optimism inches back

Asian stocks were slightly higher on Friday after a sluggish start, while the dollar held most of the gains it made overnight on strong U.S. economic data as some risk appetite returned despite caution over political turbulence in the United States. 

European shares, which posted losses overnight, are on track for positive starts. Financial spreadbetter London Capital Group expects Britain's FTSE 100 to rise 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX to climb 0.1 and France's CAC 40 to gain 0.3 percent on the open.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed earlier losses to gain 0.1 percent, shrinking its weekly loss to 0.5 percent.

Japan's Nikkei rallied 0.1 percent, but remains headed for a 1.8 percent loss for the week.
Australian shares slipped 0.25 percent, widening weekly losses to almost 2 percent.
Chinese shares were little changed, up 0.4 percent for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.3 percent, set for a weekly rise of 0.1 percent.

Malaysian shares advanced 0.2 percent and the ringgit was almost 0.1 percent higher at 4.323 per dollar, after first-quarter gross domestic product grew at 5.6 percent from a year ago, the fastest pace in two years.

U.S. President Donald Trump's dismissal of Comey last week set off a political firestorm that led to Wall Street's biggest sell-off in over eight months on Wednesday after media reported that Comey had written a memo stating that Trump had asked him to drop a probe into his former national security advisor's Russian connections.

The Justice Department's appointment on Wednesday of a special counsel to probe possible ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign helped calm markets and lifted Wall Street on Thursday.

The Dow gained 0.3 percent, the S&P was up 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 0.7 percent overnight. MSCI's emerging markets index rose 0.1 percent.

The Dollar Rose, The Euro Dipped

The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies .DXY but stayed close to Tuesday's three-week lows. 

A run of disappointing U.S. economic data and doubts the Trump administration will progress with tax cuts have quelled expectations of faster inflation and boosted U.S. Treasuries.

The greenback rose half a percent against the safe-haven yen JPY=, having hit a five-month low on Monday on the mounting geopolitical tension over North Korea, Syria and the uncertain French election, and last traded just shy of 109 yen.

Just four days before the first round of voting in France, just a few points separate the top four candidates, including two who oppose the euro -- the far-right's Marine Le Pen and the far-left's Jean-Luc Melenchon.

In commodity markets, profit-taking nudged gold down 0.6 percent to XAU= $1,282 an ounce and away from Monday's peak of $1,295.42.

The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.0720 but held near a three-week high. Oil prices were little changed. Brent crude LCOc1 was last up four cents a barrel at $54.93.

Copper rebounded from a 14-week low as investors judged that the recent sell-off on the political uncertainties that have weighed on metals in recent weeks was overdone. It last traded at $5,630 a tonne, up 1.1 percent on the day.