GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks, dollar subdued after cautious Fed

                                
 * Markets cautious after Bernanke's comments
                                
 * Dollar, commodity prices subdued
                                
 * Global exchange merger news helps boost ASX shares

                                
 SYDNEY, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Shares in Asia's developed
markets succumbed to a bit of profit taking on Thursday, while
the dollar struggled after the head of the Federal Reserve
signalled the U.S. economic recovery was still fragile and
warned against sharp spending cuts.	
                                
 Commodity prices including crude oil were subdued after Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested U.S. economic conditions were
still too weak for the central bank to pull back on its vast
monetary stimulus.	
                                
 Japan's Nikkei was little changed, having dipped
into negative territory earlier, while shares elsewhere in Asia
 shed 0.2 percent. South Korea's KOSPI 
fell 0.4 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index 
was flat.	
                                
 Among the bright spots, shares in Australian bourse operator
ASX jumped more than 4 percent. 	
                                
 Investors are hoping that merger news between major bourses
like the NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse would boost prospects
of ASX's own planned merger with Singapore Exchange ,
which is facing political hurdles.	
                                
 	
                                
 The dollar index , which tracks the greenback's
performance against a basket of major currencies, was still
shaky at 77.687, having suffered a steep decline overnight.	
                                
 Still, many traders think the dollar is in a holding pattern
for the near term as the euro was also lacking upward momentum
of its own after the European Central Bank last week quelled
expectations of an early rate hike.	
                                
 The euro traded at $1.3717 , down slightly from late
U.S. Levels but still up about 1 percent on the week.	
                                
 "It's difficult for now for the euro to rise above the peak
hit earlier this month. It will need a fresh factor to go beyond
that peak," said Keiji Matsumoto, a strategist at Nikko Cordial
Securities.	
                                
 The Australian dollar dipped slightly in the wake
of solid jobs numbers as investors bet they were not so strong
as to make a rate rise more likely anytime soon. [ID:L3E7D92LY]	
                                
 U.S. crude was little changed at $86.86 a barrel,
while gold edged lower to $1,361.84 an ounce, well off a
lifetime high around $1,430 hit in December.	
	
 (Reporting by Ian Chua; Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano
in Tokyo; Editing by Andrew Marshall)