Overseas Trading: Merkel Drums Up Optimism for Greek Aid Deal

Asian markets finished mixed today, as traders continued to keep a close eye trained on the yuan, coming off its largest weekly loss in history. Specifically, China's Shanghai Composite popped 0.7%, bolstered by a bounceback among airline stocks. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei added 0.5% following a narrower-than-expected contraction in second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP). On the flip side, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively.

European bourses are mostly higher at midday, ahead of Germany's upcoming Greek bailout vote -- with Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she's confident the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will participate in the aid package, a critical condition for parliament approval. At last check, the German DAX was up 0.2%, and the French CAC 40 had tacked on 0.5%. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 is just 0.04% below the flatline.