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Net profit was $108.8m (£65.8m) for the three months to the end of June, a 98% surge compared with the same period last year, Lenovo said.


The surge was driven by emerging markets, with a 46% jump in shipments.


The latest numbers helped Lenovo become the world's third-largest PC vendor by total shipments.


"Our business continues to climb and everything has been
executed well according to our original plans," said Liu Chuanzhi
chairman of Lenovo.


Tough times?
While Lenovo has reported robust growth in recent years, the
company warned that the current global economic environment posed a
threat going forward.


"Challenges to worldwide PC demand remain such as the pace of
global economic recovery and the ongoing debt crisis in western
Europe," Lenovo said in a statement.


There have been concerns that a slowdown in the US coupled with the debt crisis in Europe may hit demand.


Lenovo's warning came after PC-maker Dell slashed its sales
growth forecast on Tuesday, blaming a "more uncertain demand
environment".


However, analysts said that the Chinese PC-maker was better placed than its rivals to withstand a slowdown.


"I don't think Lenovo's exposure to the public sector is that big," said Gokul Hariharan of JP Morgan.


"Because of that, they are likely to be much better off in terms of growth," he added.

The BBC's sports editor David Bond says an initial public
offering (IPO) is one of a number of refinancing options the American
family is examining.




But, he says, they are only considering selling a minority stake - perhaps no more than 25%.




If successful, such a move could raise £400m ($657m).




The Old Trafford club was listed on the London stock market until it was taken over by the Glazers in 2005.



Small sale, big move

A partial share sale would mean that no outside person could take control of the club.




At the same time, it would provide the Glazers with much
needed revenues that would help pay down some of the debt that was taken
on to finance the takeover.





"They clearly need to relieve their debt burden from a
financial point of view," Ben Heyhoe Flint of Fuse Media told the BBC's
Asia Business Report.




"Financially, this is going to make sense," he added.




"They're going to open the door to fans by creating a
foothold in Asia. They're also going to open up channels to new
sponsors. I see this as a more aggressive move to make an even bolder
presence in Asia."



Growing market

United has more than 300 million fans around the world and more than 190 million of those are in Asia.




The region has become a growth area for the club and other Premier League teams.





"Tottenham Hotspur are coming through here prospecting; Chelsea
is setting up management operations," Fuse Sport's Mr Heyhoe Flint
explained.




"All of them want to engage with the fans out here, find
partners, increase their TV distribution and increase their commercial
partnerships."




Analysts said that the rise in football's popularity may help
Manchester United get a better price for its shares by tapping into
this new fan base.




"They will pay a higher price to say they own a piece of
Manchester United," said Stephen Schechter, chairman of London-based
investment bank Schechter Co.




He added that the Glazer family would also be keen to free up capital for reasons other than just servicing their debt.




"Obviously the leverage has been bothering the Glazers so
they want to use whatever cash they get in to get a return for
themselves on capital, to reduce leverage and to give Manchester United
cash to go out and buy players," Mr Schechter said.



No comment

Manchester United and chief executive David Gill have not commented on the plans for a share sale in Asia.




In March, Manchester United's parent company said it made a
loss of £108.9m in 2009-10. Red Football Joint Venture is the Glazer
family parent company that owns the Old Trafford club.




Its loss, for the year to the end of July 2010, included
one-off costs from setting up a £526m bond scheme last January to
replace outstanding debts of £509m.




There was also a drop in player sale income, compared to the previous summer when Cristiano Ronaldo was sold.

The board of Foster's rejected SAB's initial 9.5bn Australian dollars ($10bn; £6.1bn) offer in June, saying it was too low.




SAB, which owns brands such as Grolsch and Peroni, said the bid was attractive and should be put to shareholders.




Foster's has been the subject of takeover rumours since last year.




"As there has been no willingness to engage in relation to
SABMiller's proposal on the part of the Foster's board, SABMiller has
decided to make an offer to Foster's shareholders directly," the UK-based company said in a statement.




There have been talks of a takeover of the Foster's since it announced plans to break up the company into two parts last year.




The brewer spun-off its troubled wine business, which had been seen as deterring potential suitors.




Foster's beer operations and the wine business, Treasury Wine, were listed separately in May.

But in other areas, the market remains woefully behind. While mutual
and provident funds have grown rapidly, the active investor base remains
tiny relative to the country's population. The Stock Exchange of
Thailand is still disproportionately led by energy and banking stocks,
and all too many companies still pay only lip service to investor
relations, governance and corporate social responsibility.


SET president Charamporn Jotikasthira warns that time is running out
for Thailand to play catch-up to best international standards,
particularly in areas such as information technology, a critical element
in today's world where computers move billions of dollars in less than
an eyeblink.


"The global exchanges are faster than ours by a factor of 500. Or to
put it another way, the SET's trading platform and IT infrastructure
underperform that of the world's best by 500-fold," he told the Bangkok
Post.


"If we don't improve, and once we liberalise the market, if another
player comes to open an exchange to compete [with the SET], we and our
39 [brokerage] seats will not survive."


Thailand's capital markets are due to be liberalised starting next
year, with commission fees made freely negotiable and brokerage licences
open for new applicants.


The SET will also lose its long-time monopoly as the country's
securities exchange, and the move toward regional integration means that
global investors will soon be able to trade Thailand's top stocks from
their own brokers in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.


Mr Charamporn said the prospect of new foreign competition in the
Thai capital market was a powerful incentive for the SET to reform or
face a declining market share in the future, adding that London's stock
exchange saw its market share fall by as much by half with the entry of
new competition.


The SET has already set a target of July 2012 for the launch of a
new, modernised trading structure, putting pressure on brokers to adjust
by the end of the year.


"Regardless of whether demutualisation moves forward or not, we have
to do business as normal. You need to continuously adjust to remain
competitive," Mr Charamporn said.


"The main difference is that if we don't demutualise, it will be more
difficult, since we will have to raise the funds [for reforms]
somewhere else."


Regionalisation and the continued growth of the Asian economies is another trend pushing the SET to evolve.


Thailand's capital market has over the past four decades evolved
steadily from a vehicle to raise domestic capital for domestic
investment then later to attracting foreign capital to invest in local
companies.


More and more, companies are tapping the Thai exchange to facilitate overseas investment, although numerous obstacles remain.


Mr Charamporn said that ultimately, the capital market must evolve to
consider supporting "out-out" investment, playing the role as a truly
international financial hub similar to Hong Kong or Singapore.


But achieving this goal would require the establishment of supporting
infrastructure, such as investor-friendly banking and foreign-exchange
regulations.


Transaction costs in Thailand remain uncompetitive for global
investors. An investor in Singapore, for instance, might pay a spread of
50 basis points and a brokerage fee of 10 points for a cross-currency
investment, or perhaps half the cost of the same transaction in
Thailand.


"We have never really considered what is needed to support out-out
transactions, where foreign investors use the local market as an
intermediary to invest elsewhere," Mr Charamporn said.


"We have a large expatriate community here. The potential for private
banking and wealth management is quite high. But we need a clear policy
and action plan."


Policymakers looking to the future need to "raise the flag" today and
consider the taxation, settlement, legal and reporting obstacles
currently impeding growth of the market, he said.


"You need the political will to support change. And we need a clear action plan," he said.


"Right now, Hong Kong and Singapore are dominant in the region. But
actually, Thailand has a lot of advantages already. Our banking and
securities sectors just need to move in the same direction to help
facilitate services for the customers."

The US carmaker says it plans to invest $1bn (£612m) in building a new factory in the western state of Gujarat, its second production line in India.
The announcement comes as Ford is looking to increase its global sales by 50% over the next four years.
India is one of the fastest-growing car markets in the world.
"These new state-of-the-art facilities will help us reach the goal of increasing worldwide sales by nearly 50% by mid-decade to about 8 million vehicles per year," said Michael Boneham, president and managing director of Ford India.
'Growth potential' Car sales in the country grew by almost 30% in 2010, making it one of the most attractive markets for manufacturers.
On Wednesday, Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, said it planned to invest $220m to nearly double its production capacity in India by 2013.
Ford, which has been manufacturing cars in India for more than 10 years, has also been looking to increase its market share.
The launch of new models has led to robust sales growth in the first six months of year. The company said it was looking to exploit the market even further.
"We are aggressively expanding in markets around the world that have the most growth potential," said Mr Boneham.
He added that the company planned to offer more "fuel-efficient, high-quality vehicles from our global portfolio that customers in markets like India want and value".

The company reported a net loss of 15.5bn yen ($199m; £122m) for the quarter.
That was down from a 25.7bn yen profit during the same period last year.
Sony also cut its forecast for its full-year earnings by 25% to 60bn yen, from an original projection of a profit of 80bn yen.
The company said sales and profit "were mainly affected by the negative impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake as well as the deterioration of the electronics business environment, and unfavourable exchange rates".
Switched off? Sony reported sales of 732bn yen during the first quarter, a 17.9% decline from the same period a year earlier.
Sony also warned that as economic woes in its key markets continued, it expected TV sales to fall even further. "LCD TV unit sales for the fiscal year are anticipated to be below expectations," it said.
However, analysts said that while demand from key markets had been falling, increased competition was also hurting the company.
"They are facing a lot of competition and also the strong currency. Competition is [increasing] globally," said Yoji Takeda of RBC Asia Equity Fund.
Mr Takeda added that for Sony to recapture its market share, it would have to come up with a range of more competitive products.
"The TV market is a very tough market because nobody is really making money and there is a lot of capacity available right now," he said.

Production dropped 38%, while sales slumped 41% in the six months to June, from a year ago, the company said, the first such dip in two years.
The carmaker was hit by a shortage of parts due to the damage caused to Japan's supply chain by the twin natural disasters.
Toyota is the world's biggest carmaker.
The company said exports in the first six months of the year also declined for the first time in two years as shipments to key markets such as North America decreased.
While its factories have been running at reduced output, the carmaker said that its domestic and overseas production levels will return to full production by the end of the year.
Toyota also added that it plans to produce an additional 350,000 vehicles from October through to March 2012 to make up for lost production.

The Business on Britain study by Lloyds TSB Commercial Business found that low domestic demand was cited by 53% of respondents.
This was followed by a lack of available finance, 23%, and excessive regulation, 19%.
Lloyds TSB said the survey, which questioned 1,800 UK firms, showed that the economy remained "fragile".
It added that with companies continuing to be affected by higher energy bills and materials costs, their profit outlook "remains weak", despite 36% of firms putting up their prices over the past six weeks.
As a result of this, Lloyds TSB said only 19% of firms were planning to increase their levels of investment, while 21% were planning cuts.
'Firms worried' Yet while domestic demand remains weak, the survey found that export orders remain strong, with 46% of firms expecting to see a rise in overseas sales in the coming six months, and only eight per cent predicting a fall.
John Maltby, managing director of Lloyds TSB Commercial, said: "With domestic demand in the doldrums, and confidence still muted, it is understandable that firms are worried about investing for the future.
"The fact is that if businesses do not invest, it could damage an already fragile recovery, and result in even slower growth."
On a regional basis, the survey found that firms in London were the most confident, followed by those in Wales, and Yorkshire.
Firms in the north-east of England were the most under confident.
Business confidence across the UK as a whole was up slightly from six months ago, but still low.
Companies in the hospitality and leisure industries, business services and manufacturing were the most optimistic. Those in healthcare were the least.

Its net profit for the three months to 30 June totalled $1.41bn (£866m), compared with $1.23bn a year earlier.
Revenue growth was led by Europe, where McDonald's same-store sales increased by 5.9%. They rose by 4.5% in US, and by 5.2% for the rest of the world.
Group-wide revenues totalled $6.91bn, up 16% from $5.95bn a year ago.
McDonald's chief executive Jim Skinner said the latest results showed the company's resilience in the face of "the continuing challenges of our economic environment".
The company said the cost of most of its ingredients in the US and Europe was continuing to rise between 4% and 4.5% on an annual basis as food price inflation remains high.

Revenues in the quarter to June grew 1.5% on the year, but was down on the 2.5% growth in the previous quarter.
Conditions in southern Europe had been "challenging" due to price reductions, with revenues falling 1.5% in Italy and nearly 9.9% in Spain.
But Turkey saw growth of 32.1% and India 16.8%.
Regulatory changes in Europe also affected Vodafone's trading, with some national regulators having cut mobile termination rates - the rates an operator receiving a call charges the network on which the call was made for completing the call.
"We have made a good start to the year, reporting robust results despite challenging macro-economic conditions across southern European economies and the impact of cuts to mobile termination rates," chief executive Vittorio Colao said.
The company also confirmed its outlook for the full year, which had previously been stated as an adjusted operating profit of between £11bn and £11.8bn.

Revenue for the second quarter was $13bn (£8bn), up more than 20% on a year earlier, while profits rose slightly to $3bn.
The firm said it expected sales in the second half of the year to rise at a similar rate to the first.
It said demand in emerging markets was helping to drive overall sales.
"We achieved a significant new milestone in the second quarter, surpassing $13bn for the first time," said Intel's chief executive Paul Ottelini.
"Strong corporate demand for our most advanced technology, the surge of mobile devices and internet traffic fuelling data centre growth, and the rapid rise of computing in emerging markets drove record results."
However, consumer demand in more developed economies remained weak, he added.

Its household electricity bills will increase by an average 11%, and its household gas bills by an average 18%, from 14 September.
The move comes after British Gas said earlier this month that the cost of its electricity and gas will go up from 18 August.
The energy firms are blaming a 30% increase in wholesale energy prices.
Another of the big six energy suppliers, Scottish Power, announced price rises in June, with the cost of its gas going up by 19% from the start of next month, and its electricity rising by 10%.
SSE first warned in May that its prices would likely have to go up because of a big rise in the wholesale prices it had to be pay.
It made that announcement as it reported that its annual pre-tax profits had increased by 29% to £2.1bn.
Fuel poverty Last week, Consumer Focus said five million UK households now spent more than 10% of their total income on energy bills, which is classified as being in fuel poverty.
"This increase heaps more pressure onto already cash-strapped consumers and will tip many thousands more people into fuel poverty," said Mike O'Connor, chief executive of Consumer Focus.
He demanded that the energy market be investigated by the Competition Commission, if the regulator Ofgem cannot establish that the recent price increases are fair.
"Currently consumers cannot tell whether these increases are justified and that stokes the lack of trust in energy firms," Mr O'Connor said.
"Suppliers point to rising wholesale costs. Yet although wholesale prices have risen recently, they remain around a third lower than their 2008 peak," he added.
The price comparison service Uswitch said SSE's average bill, for a dual fuel customer, would rise by £171 to £1,265 - a jump of 16%.
"Despite household energy bills having rocketed by almost £500 or 71% in just over 5 years, consumers are still being asked to pay more," said Ann Robinson of Uswitch.

In March 2009, the commission told BAA to sell Gatwick and Stansted airports and either Edinburgh or Glasgow.
BAA has already sold Gatwick but challenged the decision to sell the other ones.
BAA said it was dismayed at the decision and would now consider a judicial review.
Spanish-owned BAA operates Heathrow, Southampton and Aberdeen, as well as Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
'Draconian demand' The Competition Commission said in its report that the sales process for Stansted would start in three months' time, and would be followed by the sale of one of the Scottish airports.
BAA had challenged the commission's initial ruling, but in October last year, the Court of Appeal ruled against the airport operator. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court refused BAA permission to appeal further.
"Our report has been challenged, reviewed and upheld and it is clear that the original decision to require BAA to divest three airports remains the right one for customers," said Peter Freeman from the Competition Commission.
The commission said its decision was "fully justified" and passengers and airlines "would still benefit from greater competition with the airports under separate ownership, despite the current government's decision to rule out new runways at any of the London airports".
But BAA chief executive Colin Matthews called the decision "an unreasonably draconian demand".
"The world has changed since that [initial] report more than two years ago. It's more clear than ever that Heathrow does not serve the same market as Stansted," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"Any reasonable and legal way that we have to protect the company which has invested £5bn in UK jobs, we will do."
BAA also argues that being forced to sell airports in a difficult market could destroy shareholder value.
It points to investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners, the new owners of Gatwick, paying themselves a £350m dividend in March this year, just 15 months after buying the airport from BAA for £1.5bn.
Greater choice Budget airline Ryanair accused BAA of "using delay tactics to maximise the amount it can raise for the inevitable sale".
"This is a cynical move which will damage London tourism and traffic and keep costs high for passengers," a spokesperson for the airline said.
Easyjet also said it supported the Competition Commission's decision.
"The sale of Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh should encourage more timely, well designed and cost effective investment," said Paul Simmons, Easyjet's UK director. "We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the new owners of these airports."
Bob Atkinson from the website Travelsupermarket.com said the ruling was "excellent news" and would be welcomed by consumers.
"The introduction of new operators for some of the UK's key airports will give consumers greater choice and in turn should raise the standard of service within all UK airports across the board," he said.
He added that the threat of strike action last year at airports run by BAA demonstrated the importance of having different airport operators as a strike by BAA could have "practically paralysed" air travel in the UK.

The rise was fuelled by strong growth in sales of both its computers and software.
IBM, the world's biggest maker of mainframe computers, made $3.66bn (£2.27bn), compared with $3.39 billion a year earlier.
IBM raised its prediction for full-year earnings for the second quarter running.
Revenue at the 100-year-old company was 12% higher at $26.7bn.
IBM said strong growth was coming from new signings for its services division, which were up by 16% in the quarter - a sign businesses are still spending on technology.
Although the figures beat expectations, IBM's shares initially fell slightly on the results before rising by 2% in after hours trading.
Kim Caughey Forrest, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said: "The margins were very strong and the revenue, especially in the second quarter when you expect softer revenue, makes it look like they did well in the quarter."

Gold prices have been rising because of continued concerns over Europe's debt crisis
The precious metal rose $12.30 to settle at $1,602 an ounce in London trading.
Monday capped a record breaking rally - 11 straight days of gains.
Gold is considered a safe investment and usually gains at times of global economic uncertainty.
Silver also rallied more than 3% to a two month high, above $40 an ounce.
"Gold hit another milestone... at $1,600 as investors lose confidence in the ability of politicians to get a grip with the debt problems weighing down on sentiment," said Michael Hewson from CMC Markets, a trading group.
"More advances look likely," he said.
Investors are concerned that Greece may default on its debt, and countries such as Italy and Spain, who are also struggling with high debt levels, will get pulled into the crisis.
US default?
Meanwhile in the US politicians are struggling to reach an agreement on a deficit reduction plan in time to avoid a debt default before the deadline of 2 August.
Nicholas Brooks, the head of investment strategy at ETF Securities, told the BBC investors are worried about the American economy.
"I think the concern is that if we see another round of so called quantitative easing, it's basically de-basing the US dollar, it's putting new dollars into the system and that of course makes investors concerned about holding onto US dollars."
"When they look at the alternative, the euro and the issues that are now affecting the euro, they look for alternatives and gold of course is one of the first places they go, along with other so called hard commodities," he said.

Sales of HTC's smartphones have surged making it a big player in the industry
If Friday's ruling by the US International Trade Commission is not overturned, the US may ban imports of some HTC phones.
HTC and Apple are rivals in the smartphone market and analysts said the ruling may have industry-wide implications.
Shares in HTC fell as much as 7% on Monday following the news.
Tough battle? The US trade commission said that HTC was guilty of violating two Apple patents when it produced mobile phones based on the Android operating system.
Apple had filed a complaint against HTC for infringing ten of their patents.
However, the findings are preliminary and are subject to review by the full six-member committee in Washington. A final decision is due on 6 December.
HTC said that it was confident it had a strong case for appeal, and maintains that it has not violated any of the patents mentioned in the case.
This is the latest move in a longer running battle between Apple and HTC.
Last year, HTC filed a complaint with the trade commission claiming that Apple was infringing its patents.
The Taiwanese company is not the only firm wrestling with Apple over the rights to technology, with the US firm also in disputes with South Korea's Samsung and US-based Motorola.
Buy back The announcement by the US International Trade Commission came late on Friday, and in an effort to boost its share price HTC said over the weekend that it would buy back some of its listed equity.
HTC plans to snap up as much as 2.4% of the listed shares, about 20 million shares, at between 900 Taiwanese dollars and 1,100 Taiwanese dollars per share.
Half of the repurchased shares will be transferred to the firm's employees and the remaining half cancelled.
In early afternoon trading on Monday, HTC shares were trading at close to T$871.

The British Medical Association guidance highlighted a series of potential pitfalls doctors face.
In particular, it said there was a risk the lines between personal and professional lives could be blurred.
It comes after a series of cases in which NHS staff and other public sector workers have got into trouble through their use of social media.
In 2009, a group of doctors and nurses were suspended for posting pictures of themselves on Facebook lying down in unusual places, including a hospital helipad.
And last year a civil servant found herself in the newspapers after using her Twitter account to make political points and saying she was struggling with a hangover.
'Serious offence' Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the BMA's medical ethics committee, said: "Medical professionals should be wary of who could access their personal material online, how widely it could be shared and how it could be perceived by their patients and colleagues."
The guidance advises both doctors and medical students to adopt conservative privacy settings where they are available.
It also warns them against making informal or derogatory comments about patients or colleagues as well as not accepting current or past patients as friends on Facebook.
The message was echoed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which has also issued its own guidance this week.
NMC official Andy Jaeger said: "What you regard as just an amusing story could end up causing serious offence more easily than you think."

Investors are cautious globally, not just in India , analysts said
The Mumbai Stock Exchange's Sensex index fell 0.5%, while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty index shed 0.4%.
The blasts come at a time when foreign investment in India has been under pressure.
The last time the city experienced a similar attack in November 2008, stocks fell by almost 2%.
Analysts said that security concerns may provide investors with a reason to reduce their holdings in markets that are seen as being more risky in the short-term.
Global risk appetite has been diminishing in recent months amid fears over the economic problems in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
India has also been hurt by the country's high rate of inflation, which has been eroding the value of assets.
The Sensex index has fallen 10% since the start of this year, making it one of the worst performers among Asian stock markets.
"Some retailers may become nervous and close their long-term positions," said Arjuna Mahendran of HSBC Private Bank.
Long-term growth However, HSBC's Mr Mahendran said that any negative impact on the stock markets is likely to be short-term.
Despite the blasts, the longer-term view is that India offers too much in terms of economic growth and domestic expansion for investors to remain wary.
India has been one of the fastest growing economies in the region over the past few years, and it is expected to grow by close to 8% this year.
While India has been expanding, developed economies such as the US and Europe are still struggling to fully recover from the effects of the global financial crisis.
They have also been hit by newer developments such as the debt issues in the eurozone.
Analysts said that given those issues, India remained an attractive investment destination, even taking into account its domestic problems and the bomb blasts.
"Emerging markets are looking much better than developed markets given all the problems we have had in Europe and even the US," said HSBC's Mr Mahendran.
"Everybody out there wants to buy India; the Indian growth story is still intact."

BYD said its profit for the first half of the year could plunge by as much as 95% because of a drop in car sales.
BYD's shares dipped by as much as 6.7% in Hong Kong.
The company said the end of tax incentives for small cars in China had hit demand for its vehicles.
BYD revealed that its profit for the first six months of the year is likely to be between 121m yuan ($18.7m; £11.7m) and 363m yuan, compared with 2.4bn yuan during the same period last year.
Uncertain times? BYD's problems are not just confined to falling car sales, its other business units have also witnessed a recent slump.
The company said that sales of components that it makes for mobile telephone handsets and its assembly business also declined during the first half of the year, as one of its major customers deferred orders.
Last month, BYD reported that its first quarter profit dropped by 84%, compared to the same period last year.
Analysts said that given the company's recent performance, there may be more tough times ahead.
"It's below my expectation and there is a chance that they make a loss in the second quarter," said Steven Man of Samsung Securities.
Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett's company MidAmerican Energy, holds a 9.9% stake in BYD.
The renowned American investor, who made his fortune from the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, is dubbed the Sage of Omaha.

Italy's main index fell 4% at one point, before recovering to rise 0.4%. Spanish shares and the UK's FTSE 100 have both shed 1%.
The yields on Italian and Spanish bonds also continued to rise as worries over the two countries grew.
On Monday, eurozone finance ministers said they were ready to pass new measures to stop the crisis spreading.
The euro was also lower, falling to a four-month low against the dollar at $1.3835.
'Contagion risk' The concern is that Italy and Spain may have to follow Greece, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland and seek a European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out.
On Monday, eurozone finance ministers said increased efforts to "improve the euro area's systemic capacity to resist contagion risk" would include "enhancing the flexibility and the scope" of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
This is the bail-out fund to which eurozone member states contribute.
Finance ministers also agreed to look at lowering the interest rates that Greece, Portugal and the Irish Republic have to pay, plus lengthening the maturities of their loans.
Italian cuts Eurozone finance ministers have been meeting in Brussels on Tuesday with their colleagues from European Union nations that do not use the euro.
Concern that Italy could be the next country to require a financial bail-out comes as Italy's Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti, announced that he would leave Tuesday's talks early so he could continue to work on an austerity budget to reduce Italy's public deficit.
He has proposed 48bn euros ($67bn; £42bn) in budget cuts over three years and aims to cut the deficit to zero by 2014 from this year's 3.9% of gross domestic product.
Shares in Italian banks were down sharply in early trading, with Intesa SanPaolo losing 4% and UniCredit heading 7% lower.
However, both then rebounded after the Italian government announced a successful sale of 12-month bonds, albeit at a high price.
Intesa and UniCredit were both up 2.3% on the day, while Italy's main share index, the FTSE MIB, reversed earlier losses.
Yet in a sign that investors remain more risk-averse to Italy, the yield on Italian 10-year bonds on Tuesday increased to 5.8% from 5.6% on Monday.
Meanwhile, yields on 10-year bonds issued by the Spanish government rose to 6.3%, from 6.1%.
Analysts say both these yields are now close to levels at which the two countries will have problems servicing their debts.
Asian shares had earlier closed lower, with the situation in the eurozone being closely monitored around the world.
Japan's Nikkei index lost 1.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.4%.
The main US share index was flat in early Tuesday trading, after ending Monday down 1.2%.
Jean-Francois Robin of French investment bank Natixis said: "We find ourselves at one of the worst moments of the European monetary crisis.
"The idea of a contagion from the Greek crisis to other eurozone countries like Italy and Spain is gaining ground."
'Effective solutions' Eurozone finance ministers also discussed on Monday how, and by how much, banks and other financial institutions could contribute to a new rescue package for Greece.
However, no final decision was reached on this, as it also has to be agreed with the IMF.
Speaking from Washington, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said it was not yet ready to discuss terms for a second Greek bail-out.
"Nothing should be taken for granted," she said.
Meanwhile, Greece's Prime Minister, George Papandreou, called for a comprehensive solution to his country's debt problems.
"I thus believe it is time now to address our fundamental problems head on and produce a comprehensive package of solutions that clearly signals our determination not to see the European project further damaged or destroyed," Mr Papandreou said in a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup of finance ministers.