* DSM raises 2018 dividend by 25 percent, promises further increases (Adds CEO quotes, detail on acquisition plans and targets)

Iteos Therapeutics, a Belgian medical research company developing drugs to treat cancer, has raised $75 million through private financing to start clinical trials of two candidate drugs and expand into the United States.

Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index and the won bounced back on Wednesday, snapping losses of the past few days despite continued anxiety over a U.S.-China trade war, while bond yields rose. ** At 06:30 GMT, the KOSPI was up 23.80 points or 1.02 percent at 2,363.91. Electricity and electronics-related shares including SK Hynix and Samsung SDI rose 4.4 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Biotech drugmaker Samsung BioLogics gai

Japan's Nikkei share average rose in volatile trade on Wednesday, helped by late short-covering following an earlier selloff and a broader recovery in regional sentiment as Chinese shares recovered from a rout in the previous session.

Japan's Nikkei share average was flat in choppy trade on Wednesday morning as firms that rely on China demand tumbled on trade war worries, with machine tool makers and shippers posting multi-month lows, which offset gains in defensive stocks.

Round-up of South Korean financial markets: ** South Korea's KOSPI stock index rallied on Wednesday, snapping four sessions of declines, a day after anxiety over a U.S.-China trade spat rattled global markets. The Korean won rose slightly while bond yields were steady. ** At 0239 GMT, the KOSPI was up 19.57 points or 0.84 per

Canada's upper house of parliament on Tuesday approved a revised bill to legalize recreational marijuana, setting the stage for the country to become the first Group of Seven nation to legalize cannabis.

General Electric Co has lost its spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after over a century in the blue chip stock index, a new blow to a company that once towered over the American business landscape but is now struggling to retain its standing as an industrial powerhouse.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will replace General Electric Co in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from June 26, S&P Dow Jones Indices said https://bit.ly/2K4IoSE on Tuesday.

Barely six months after inaugurating a tiny software-coding boot camp in a basement in Tokyo, Silicon Valley transplant Kani Munidasa stood before some of Japan's top business leaders in February with a warning: software was threatening their future.