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BANGKOK - Asian stocks eked out gains Thursday as traders hunted for bargains after sharp selling in recent days, but markets in Europe fell amid intensifying fears of a messy exit by Greece from the euro common currency.

Greece called a new round of elections for June 17 after coalition talks to form a government fell apart. The president said depositors were pulling hundreds of millions of euros out of banks, weakening the country’s strained financial system.

The developments fueled fears that Greece would exit the euro currency and shake global markets. In elections earlier this month, Greek voters punished parties that supported tough austerity measures needed to secure international bailout money.

But analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the scheduling of new Greek elections suggested “a reduction in near-term uncertainties” that could lead to some relief for volatile markets.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent to 5,380.72 in early trading. Germany’s DAX fell 0.2 per cent to 6,373.01 and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.2 per cent to 3,042.45.

U.S. stocks were set for a moderately higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 0.3 per cent at 12,610. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 per cent to 1,327.

In Asia, stock markets enjoyed a slight rebound as investors went bargain-hunting, analysts said.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.9 per cent to close at 8,876.59 after the country posted better-than-expected growth figures for the first quarter. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3 per cent to 1,845.24. Benchmarks in Taiwan, New Zealand and the Philippines also rose business cards.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 per cent to 4,157.40, dragged down by financial stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.3 per cent down at 19,200.93.

Mainland Chinese shares bounced back from early losses, buoyed by calls from the country’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, for market reforms.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 per cent to 2,378.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index also gained 1.4 per cent to 954.95. Shares in brokerages, financial and trading-related companies led the gains.

Positive news on the U.S. economy on Wednesday underpinned sentiment in Asia. Construction of homes in April rose 2.6 per cent from March, and U.S. factory production increased 0.6 per cent in April, helped by a gain in auto production.

Some Japanese stocks saw big gains amid news that the country’s economy grew at an annualized 4.1 per cent for the January-March quarter thanks to a rebound in consumer spending.

Sharp Corp. jumped 5.7 per cent and Mazda Motor Corp. added 3.8 per cent. Steel company JFE Holdings shot up 5.5 per cent.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 52 cents to $93.33 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract fell by $1.17 to finish at a seven-month low of $92.81 per barrel in New York.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2715 from $1.2725 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar rose to 80.35 yen from 80.29 yen.

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AP researcher Fu Ting contributed from Shanghai.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reporting a 10.1 percent increase in first-quarter profit as the world’s largest retailer’s re-emphasis on low prices continues to woo back bargain-hungry shoppers in an uncertain economy.

Wal-Mart says that it earned $3.74 billion, or $1.09 per share, in the quarter ended April 30. That compares with $3.39 billion, or 97 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Net sales excluding membership fees from Sam’s Club rose 8.6 percent to $112.2 billion.

Analysts had expected $1 guaranteed online personal loans.04 per share on net sales of $110.5 billion.

Revenue at stores opened at least a year rose 2.6 percent at its Wal-Mart’s namesake U.S. division. That’s above the 1.4 percent estimate from Wall Street.

The company is offering an upbeat profit outlook for the current quarter.

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U.S. stocks sank Tuesday, although the major indexes closed off session lows, as Greece’s uncertain political situation keeps investors on edge.

The Dow Jones industrial average () fell 76 points, or 0.6%, to 12,932. The S&P 500 () tumbled 6 points, or 0.4%, to 1,364. The Nasdaq () declined 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,946.

The selling picked up steam during the morning, with the S&P 500 touching a 2-month low, as stocks in Europe fell sharply. But major indexes in the United Sates pared losses in the last hour of trading.

All eyes continue to be on Europe, after Greece’s main center-right party failed to form a coalition government. Now, the left-wing coalition, which is opposed to austerity as the way to close Greece’s debt gap, will have three days to form a government.

The latest development is feeding investors’ fears that Greece might have to drop out of the eurozone.

"The political stalemate in Greece is casting a shadow over risk markets in general and equities in particular," said Nick Stamenkovic, investment strategist at RIA Capital Markets in Edinburgh. "Investors are questioning whether Greece will be a part of the single currency at the end of this year."

The Greek stock market fell 3.6%, adding to sharp losses in the previous session.

Greece could drop euro but tragedy won’t follow

As various parties grapple with forming a coalition government in Greece, it’s looking increasingly likely that new elections will need to be held, most likely in mid-June. That throws into question whether Greece will be forced to renegotiate its bailout funding.

Greek leftist leader Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday laid out the radical agenda he hopes to pursue if he becomes prime minister, including the cancellation of international loan agreements to Greece that forced the country into sharp budget cuts.

Meanwhile, European Union leaders are grappling with the need to boost economic growth during a time of austerity. Early Tuesday, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy set May 23 as the date for an unscheduled EU summit, announcing on his Twitter feed that it would be an "informal dinner."

In addition to the "re-circulating woes in Europe," investors were also rattled by weak sales numbers from McDonalds, said Peter Tuz, portfolio manager at Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Va.

"More uncertainty in Europe is not good for U.S. markets, nor is the weakness in consumer-oriented stocks," said Tuz.

U.S. stocks recovered from a shaky start Monday, following elections in France and Greece over the weekend payday loan.

World markets: European stocks fell sharply late in the day to end lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 () was down 1.7%. The DAX () in Germany shed 1.9%. In France, the benchmark CAC 40 () fell 3% one day after Socialist party leader Francois Hollande won the nation’s presidential election.

In the bond market, investors bought €1.3 billion worth of short-term Greek government bills out of €2.6 billion offered. The yield was 4.69%, up from 4.55% at the last auction in April.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite () slid 0.1% and the Hang Seng () in Hong Kong lost 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei () rose 0.7%.

Companies: Shares of fashion accessories maker Fossil () plunged after it reported first-quarter revenue that fell short of even the lowest forecasts.

Fast-food chain Wendy’s () reported operating income of 1 cent a share, falling short of analysts’ forecasts for a profit of 3 cents a share.

Shares for Electronic Arts () slipped after the video-game maker cut its first-quarter outlook for the period ending in June.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury may eventually turn a $15.1 billion profit on its bailout of insurer AIG (, Fortune 500) when all final payments and asset sales are complete.

McDonald’s Corp.’s (, Fortune 500) same-store sales increased 3.3%, both globally and in the U.S. market. Analysts were expecting sales to grow 5%, according to Reuters. Sales rose 3.5% in Europe, but only 1.1% in the unit that includes Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

In other corporate news, shares of DirecTV (, Fortune 500) slipped even as the broadcast satellite provider reported slightly better earnings and sales in line with forecasts.

Entertainment conglomerate and Dow component Walt Disney (, Fortune 500) will report earnings after the close. The studio had a blockbuster weekend with "The Avengers," which broke records with box office sales of $200.3 million during opening weekend. Those sales will not be included in this report, while an estimated $200 million in losses on epic bomb "John Carter" will.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained strength against the euro and British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery fell 93 cents to end at $97.01 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery dropped $34.60 to settle at $1,604.50 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell Tuesday, leaving the yield at 1.84%. 

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It wasn’t the stock market debut that BATS Global Markets was hoping for.

The stock exchange operator on Thursday night announced it would sell 6.3 million shares at $16 apiece when it went public the following morning. Then, the next day, the shares plunged to 4 cents before trading was halted.

The reasons weren’t immediately clear. The exchange issued a statement on its website saying it would cancel all orders for stocks in the symbol range of A to BFZZZ for 10 minutes in the early afternoon.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the rapid-fire, computerized stocks trading platforms and whether they give traders an unfair advantage. The Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, said the investigation includes BATS.

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More than 1,000 indigenous protesters reached Ecuador’s capital Thursday after a two-week march from the Amazon to oppose plans for large-scale mining on their lands.

The protesters were joined by thousands of anti-government protesters in Quito, and some of the demonstrators clashed with police outside the National Assembly. Police repelled rock-throwing young men using tear gas and charging at the demonstrators on horseback.

Police said at least four officers suffered minor injuries in the violence.

The indigenous protesters were joined by students, activists and government opponents who criticized President Rafael Correa for signing off on plans for mining projects including open pit mines that are to extract copper and other minerals from the traditional lands of the Shuar Indians in southern Ecuador.

Thousands of Correa’s supporters gathered in parks and plazas for a counter-demonstration to show their support for the government’s policies, some of them in front of the president’s palace.

Correa’s supporters chanted: “The coup-plotters won’t pass! They’ll bump into the people!”

The leftist president addressed a crowd of supporters at a park, saying the government is willing to talk with indigenous leaders despite the disagreements.

“We’ve told them: They want to talk, perfect, but with the good-intentioned, good people. For that, they don’t need marches. We’re always open to dialogue,” Correa said. He called the protesters “counterrevolutionaries.”

“If they want to beat us, they should do it in elections,” Correa said in a radio interview.

The president said the government took measures to ensure security and the right of his opponents to protest peacefully. Hundreds of police officers stood watch at both demonstrations.

“But if there is an act of violence… clearly it will be from infiltrated opposition groups,” Correa said, adding that he thought the indigenous protesters had failed to rally much of a crowd.

Correa, whose spending on social programs has helped boost his approval ratings above 70 percent, has supported large-scale mining projects saying they represent a financial boon for the country guaranteed cash advance.

The march was organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, the country’s indigenous umbrella group.

Delfin Tenesaca, one of the group’s leaders, said that if the president is truly willing to have a dialogue, he should receive the protesters. “He should also eliminate all mining contracts in order to respect the constitution, which prohibits all types of mining in parks, ecological reserves and water sources,” Tenesaca said.

The indigenous group’s president, Humberto Cholango, told reporters: “We want peace and no more insults by the president.”

“We want Ecuador to know that there are people here who are willing to question and tell the president his mistakes,” Cholango told the Ecuadorean television channel Ecuavisa.

The protest march began on March 8 in the Amazon town of El Pangui, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Quito. The marchers took a winding route, hiking about 700 kilometers (435 miles) to reach the capital.

Near the starting point of the march, the government has authorized open pit mines. Under a contract signed by the president this month, Chinese-owned Ecuacorriente will begin stripping copper as early as next year from a hillside in Shuar country whose reserves are estimated at 2.1 billion kilograms (4.7 billion pounds).

The Indians hold title to their traditional lands, but the government maintains mining rights and isn’t legally bound to obtain the communities’ consent to begin mining projects.

While contracts specify that 10 percent of the royalties should benefit local communities, activists say that can’t compensate for harm to Amazon forests and watersheds.

The protesters, from various indigenous groups, also express concern about plans for more oil drilling in the country and a proposed gold mining project in the Amazon that aims to tap an estimated 6.4 million ounces of recoverable gold reserves, currently worth $10.6 billion.

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Inflation is back on the European Central Bank

A few members of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting said the central bank may soon have to consider more asset purchases, while others said the economic outlook would have to deteriorate first.

A few members said economic conditions

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos won parliamentary approval for austerity measures to secure an international bailout after rioters protesting the measures battled police and set fire to buildings in downtown Athens.

A total of 199 lawmakers voted in favor and 74 against, Parliament Speaker Filippos Petsalnikos said in remarks carried live on state-run Vouli TV. When, on Nov. 16, Papademos won a mandate from the Parliament to implement budget measures and secure the bailout of 130 billion euros ($172 billion) he received the support of 255 lawmakers in the 300-strong chamber.