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Both San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), the fourth-largest U.S. bank, and Minneapolis-based US Bancorp (USB.N) also both saw higher revenues contribute to healthy net income.

Compared with some of their chief rivals, both banks are showing more signs of recovering from the nearly 3-year-old financial crisis and recession.

US Bancorp posted a 61 percent jump in net income as the regional bank released $25 million in loan loss reserves. The move was the first by the company since the financial crisis began in 2008.

The bank's earnings per share of 49 cents beat analysts' estimates by 3 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Wells Fargo posted a 21 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, helped by double-digit revenue growth in multiple business units.

The bank said earnings rose to $3.4 billion, or 61 cents a share, meeting analysts' expectations.

Wells Fargo shares were down 1 percent at $32.15 in premarket trading, and U.S. Bancorp was down 1 cent at $27.30 as weak results from Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) pressured financial stocks overall.

(Reporting by Joe Rauch; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

* Strong earnings from the likes of Apple (AAPL.O) and IBM (IBM.N) have reinforced hopes of a strong corporate earnings season.

* Apple landed blockbuster results after markets closed on Tuesday and gave a strong outlook on dazzling sales of the iPhone and iPad, sending its shares up as much as 4 percent before paring gains.

* International Business Machines Corp's (IBM) quarterly profit blew past Wall Street estimates, and a long-hoped-for recovery in its services business raised optimism that global companies were confident enough to spend more on technology. IBM shares rose 2.7 percent in after-hours trading.

* A number of banks are scheduled to release results on Wednesday, including Goldman Sachs (GS.N) which analysts expect to report a fall in quarterly profit by roughly half due to the same adverse fixed income trading environment that hurt Citigroup's (C.N) results a day earlier.

* Goldman is likely to post earnings of about $3.76 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

* State Street (STT.N), U.S. Bancorp (USB.N), Bank of New York Mellon (FIBK.O) and Wells Fargo (WFC.N) are also set to report numbers on Wednesday, along with technology firm eBay (EBAY.O).

* U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday as investors focused on increased price targets for Google (GOOG.O), which reports later this week, and Dow component Caterpillar (CAT.N), whose results are due next week.

* Optimism about earnings has helped bolster stocks in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 .SPX posting its seventh straight week of gains on Friday.

* In company news, agribusiness giant Cargill Inc CARG.UL plans to spin off its $24 billion majority stake in Mosaic Co (MOS.N), a move that could eventually lead to a takeover of Mosaic, the world's second-largest fertilizer producer.

* Citigroup Inc (C.N) plans to name John Havens as president and chief operating officer as part of a structural overhaul to address the bank's efforts to expand, the Wall Street Journal said.

* Executives from General Electric (GE.N), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Coca-Cola KO.N., Boeing (BA.N), Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Carlyle Group CYL.UL will be among U.S. business leaders at a meeting on Wednesday hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, a White House official said.

* U.S. aircraft and defense firm Boeing (BA.N) is in talks with South Korea's Korean Air Lines (003490.KS), one of its 787 Dreamliner customers, on its delivery schedule, the head of its Korea unit said.

* On the economic front, weekly U.S. mortgage applications and chain store sales are expected at 6 a.m. EST and 6:45 a.m. EST respectively, while U.S. housing starts for December are due at 1330 GMT.

* In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares slipped 0.2 percent in early trade, pressured by weak banks.

(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal. Editing by Jane Merriman)

The annual survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which bills itself as the "voice of American business" in China, comes as Chinese President Hu Jintao began a state visit to the United States.

China drew a record $105.7 billion in foreign direct investment last year, with inflows rising more than 17 percent from the previous year as global firms piled into the country to tap its vast and growing market.

An increasing number of U.S. companies in China expect higher revenue in 2011, but nearly two-thirds of the respondents in the survey said the regulatory environment had either remained stable or deteriorated over the past year.

Some 71 percent of respondents said that enforcement of intellectual property rights had stayed the same or deteriorated in 2010, up from 61 percent in 2009 and 64 percent in 2008.

"U.S. companies are concerned about the risk of rising protectionism and inadequate enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR)," the survey said.

"IPR remains a top concern because U.S. companies perceive a lack of IPR protection and enforcement to be a blow to their competitive advantage and is costing U.S. companies billions of dollars in lost revenue each year."

China has arrested more than 4,000 people for violating intellectual property rights since November and will enforce tougher punishments to combat the "rampant" problem, a senior government official said last week.

U.S. and European corporations say recent crack downs have had little effect, with complaints about fake brand-name goods being overtaken by claims of Chinese firms assimilating more patent-heavy foreign technology.

High-speed trains, auto designs, mobile phones and wind turbines have all been the subject of vitriol about whether Chinese firms have stolen foreign companies' patents or whether the Chinese government has excluded foreigncompetitors by demanding that they hand over valuable patentsand designs.

The International Intellectual Property Alliance, which represents U.S. copyright industry groups, has estimated U.S. trade losses in China due to piracy at $3.5 billion in 2009.

HIGHER REVENUE

The Board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai includes top company officials from the Chinese operations of Citibank, FedEx, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, APCO Worldwide, Corning and General Motors.

The American Chamber of Commerce survey was conducted from mid-November to early December 2010 and a total of 346 companies participated, with a 25 percent response rate.

The report said 71 percent of respondents expected their 2011 revenue to increase by at least 10 percent, up from 60 percent in a similar survey last year.

The euro was cheered by upbeat German data and central bank buying, though doubts about Europe's ability to beef up a sovereign rescue fund kept a lid on gains.

U.S. stocks shook off concerns surrounding Apple Inc (AAPL.O), which was hit by news of Chief Executive Steve Jobs' medical leave, helped by strong earnings for the iPhone and iPad maker whose share rose more than 4 percent in extended trade.

Optimism about earnings has helped bolster U.S. stocks in recent weeks, fuelling hopes that the world's No.1 economy could return to a sustainable recovery path and that Japanese firms would follow suit and show a recovery in earnings.

Google (GOOG.O), whose increased price targets lifted its shares, reports later this week, and results of the heavy equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT.N) are due next week. .N

Earnings for the financial sector are also on the way: Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) later in the day, Morgan Stanley (MS.N) on Thursday and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) on Friday.

"After Google reports tomorrow investors will shift their focus back to Tokyo companies," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.

"As most of them are expected to post strong earnings, the market will look for news about how they're going to sustain that performance in the long run."

EURO ZONE DEBT

Japan's Nikkei average .N225 rose 0.2 percent to 10535.70, while the MSCI index of Asia and Pacific shares excluding Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.51 percent. .T

Concerns over the euro zone's debt problems are still around, but sentiment improved in the wake of news that foreign buyers took up about 80 percent of Greek Treasury bills at Tuesday's auction.

"Foreign demand is soaking up this pressure and I think that is a very important development. But it's only enough to hold euro in a range," said Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist at Westpac Bank.

"Euro is in a very well rehearsed $1.29-$1.3450/3500 range. I'd be surprised if we break out on the top side. What you're seeing is positioning washing back and forth."

After hitting as high as $1.3467 overnight, the euro last traded at around $1.3424. Resistance at the top-end of a prevailing range is expected to keep the single currency capped for now.

U.S. crude futures extended declines on Wednesday, pressured by the restart of the Trans Alaska Pipeline and as the International Energy Agency said OPEC may have quietly raised production in response to prices nearing $100. <O/R>

Spot gold rose by 0.4 percent to $1,373.3 an ounce by 0205 GMT, supported by steady physical demand in Asia and strength in the euro currency.

(Additional reporting by Antoni Slodkowski in Tokyo, Ian Chua in Sydney; Editing by Alex Richardson)