Asia markets mostly up on Greece hopes
People wait for the traffic light to change to cross a street in front of an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo on June 15, 2015. Asian markets mostly rose Monday, June 22, after Greece gave creditors new proposals on reforming its bailout, fueling hopes of averting a default and possible exit from the eurozone. AP PHOTO/KOJI SASAHARA
HONG KONG–Asian markets mostly rose Monday after Greece gave creditors new proposals on reforming its bailout, fueling hopes of averting a default and possible exit from the eurozone.
The euro also advanced after Brussels said it had received the plans a day before an emergency European summit Monday, with the office of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calling it a “mutually beneficial deal.”
Tokyo rallied 1.26 percent, or 253.95 points, to 20,428.19 and Seoul gained 0.40 percent, or 8.20 points, to 2,055.16, while Sydney reversed early losses to add 0.24 percent, or 13.20 points, to 5,610.20.
Hong Kong jumped 1.20 percent, or 320.32 points, to 27,080.85.
Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.
The news also sent European shares soaring in early trade. Athens surged more than seven percent, Germany and Paris each jumped more than three percent and London was up 1.40 percent.
While it is not clear what concessions have been offered, Martin Selmayr, the head of the cabinet of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the Athens proposal offered “a good basis for progress.”
However, he underscored the tumult surrounding the deal by describing the negotiations as a “forceps delivery.”
The plans were submitted after Tsipras held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Juncker.
Analysts said the move was cheered in Asian trading rooms. “Originally there wasn’t going to be one, so the fact that there’s a new proposal on the table appears to be seen favorably,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
The euro strengthened, buying $1.1393 and 139.95 yen in the afternoon compared with $1.1349 and 139.23 yen in New York late Friday. The dollar was at 122.83 yen against 122.69 yen in US trade.
The heads of the 19 eurozone countries will hold an emergency summit in Brussels later Monday, under pressure to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt.
‘Quality work’
If the two sides are unable to agree a deal, Greece will likely default on an IMF debt payment of around 1.5 billion euros due on June 30, leading to the possibility of it crashing out of the eurozone.
Greece said its new proposals were aimed at reaching a “definitive solution” to end the standoff with creditors.
“It is difficult to forecast how the summit will turn out but it seems there is no small deal of optimism in markets that they will come to an agreement in the end,” Shinya Harui, a Europe-focused financial markets analyst at Nomura Securities in Tokyo, told AFP.
On Monday morning France’s finance minister Michel Sapin hailed the “quality” work around Athens’ latest proposals. He told French radio: “I see the work that has been done. It is quality work,” adding that talks were proceeding in “good conditions.”
EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the fate of Greece and the euro would “largely be decided” Monday, adding that he believed a deal could be reached.
The European Central Bank will also meet to discuss whether to raise the level of emergency funding to Greek lenders again, as the country’s banking system faces a run by customers withdrawing their cash.
Oil prices edged up. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery gained five cents to $59.66, while Brent crude for August gained three cents to $63.05 in afternoon trade.
Gold fetched $1,192.86 compared with $1,202.66 late Friday.
In other markets:
— Mumbai rose 1.52 percent, or 414.04 points, to end at 27,730.21.
Axis Bank rose 3.62 percent to 572.00 rupees, while telecom major Bharti Airtel fell 2.25 percent to 424.20 rupees.
— Singapore closed up 0.43 percent, or 14.17 points, to 3,315.13.
Real estate developer Capitaland gained 0.89 percent to Sg$3.39 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 0.60 percent to Sg$10.13.
— Jakarta ended down 0.52 percent, or 25.75 points, at 4,959.25.
Bank Danamon Indonesia gained 0.34 percent to 4,370 rupiah, while palm oil giant Astra Agro Lestari dropped 2.65 percent to 22,050 rupiah.
— Malaysia rose 0.64 percent, or 10.99 points, to 1,732.76.
Maybank added 0.43 percent to 9.34 ringgit, Tenaga Nasional gained 1.87 percent to 13.10 while Top Glove lost 0.15 percent to 6.59 ringgit.
— Bangkok added 0.84 percent, or 12.60 points, to close at 1,504.06.
Coal producer Banpu slipped 0.96 percent to 25.75 baht while Airports of Thailand rose 2.07 percent to 296 baht.
— Taipei rose 1.33 percent, or 123.40 points, to 9,341.77.
Hon Hai Precision Industry gained 2.75 percent to Tw$97.2 while leading chip design house MediaTek closed 2.72 percent higher at Tw$434.0.
— Wellington fell 0.17 percent, or 9.73 points, to 5,772.04.
Fletcher Building was down 0.84 percent at NZ$8.26 and Spark was unchanged at NZ$2.83.
— Manila rose 0.10 percent, or 7.97 points, to 7,609.14.
Universal Robina added 1.01 percent to 200 pesos, Manila Electric advanced 1.75 percent to 290 pesos and BDO Unibank ended 0.18 percent up at 110 pesos.
