Asia stocks mostly up on China, Greece moves

HONG KONG—Asian shares broadly rose Monday, driven by a Chinese move at the weekend to loosen lending and hopes that debt-ridden Greece’s bailout will at last be finalized.

The gains came after China’s central bank said Saturday it would cut commercial banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 0.50 percentage points to ease restrictions on lending and boost slowing economic growth.

The move, the second since November, cheered investors as Beijing looks to ease restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices amid fears that the world’s second-largest economy is slowing too quickly.

But early increases Monday were pared later in the day, with Hong Kong closing down 0.31 percent or 66.83 points, to 21,424.79, after standing at more than 21,700 earlier.

At one point the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, had been up more than one percent, but it closed up 0.27 percent, or 6.42 points, at 2,363.60.

“The latest cut in the reserve requirement ratio will boost sentiment but it doesn’t indicate a full easing of monetary policy,” China Minzu Securities analyst Wang Xiaojun told Dow Jones Newswires.

China remains worried about the possibility of resurgence in inflation, he added.

In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.4 percent, or 60.2 points, at 4,256.1 points – its biggest rise in four weeks – with energy and mining stocks gaining on hopes Beijing’s decision would spur demand for commodities.

“Even though (the move) was expected, I think it is significant, and we are yet to see the full effect on global markets,” said Sydney-based RBS Morgans principal investment adviser Christopher Macdonald.

Tokyo shrugged off a record monthly trade deficit of 1.475 trillion yen to close with the Nikkei 225 up 1.08 percent, or 100.92 points, at 9,485.09.

The enormous Japanese deficit came as fuel imports rose to meet electricity generation needs while exports to Europe slumped, but was broadly in line with expectations.

Thailand reported a huge 10.7 percent quarter-on-quarter fall in GDP for the October-December period last year, when the country was hit by devastating floods, but Bangkok shares closed up 0.53 percent, or 5.99 points, at 1,135.92.

Investors were also watching a eurozone finance ministers meeting due in Brussels later Monday to try to close a new 230-billion-euro ($300 billion) bailout package for Greece and avert a chaotic default.

After weeks of difficult negotiations, the ministers will seek to lend Greek banks 130 billion euros and agree a write-off of 100 billion euros of Athens’ sovereign debt, among other measures.

“Greece headline risks remain, but today’s Eurogroup meeting should clear uncertainty about the implementation of the second bailout package,” Credit Agricole said in a note.

In morning trade, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.70 percent to 5,946.13 points, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.80 percent to 3,467.28 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was up 0.93 percent to 6,911.45 points.

On currency markets, the euro was at $1.3210 and 105.07 yen, up from $1.3148 and 104.54 yen late Friday in New York.

The dollar was at 79.52 yen, from 79.17 yen.

Brent crude hit an eight-month high in Asian trade after Iran halted its oil sales to France and Britain in what analysts said was a game of political brinkmanship.

Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up $1.52 to $121.10 in the afternoon, while New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for March delivery, rose $1.72 to $104.96 per barrel.

Gold was at $1,732.10 at 1100 GMT, against $1,723.80 on Friday.

In other markets:

— Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed up 20.60 points, or 0.69 percent, at 3,021.19.

Singapore Airlines gained 0.46 percent to Sg$10.97 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. advanced 1.13 percent to Sg$8.95.

— Manila closed up 1.29 percent at a new record high, with the composite index gaining 63.13 points to 4,943.84.

Top-traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. gained 3.53 percent to 85 pesos but Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. bucked the trend to fall by 1.12 percent to 2,826 pesos.

— Seoul closed 0.07 percent higher on buying by foreign investors, with the benchmark KOSPI gaining 1.43 points at 2,024.90.

— Jakarta rose 0.1 percent or 3.71 points to 3,980.25.

Indonesia’s biggest lender Bank Mandiri gained 0.8 percent to 6,400 rupiah and carmaker Astra International gained 0.1 percent to 73,950 rupiah.

— Kuala Lumpur closed 3.42 points, or 0.2 percent, higher at 1,560.57.

Financial service provider CIMB Group edged up 0.3 percent to 7.30 ringgit while budget air carrier AirAsia also rose 0.3 percent to 3.67 ringgit.

— Taipei rose 60.46 points, or 0.77 percent, to 7,954.82.

MediaTek rose 1.65 percent to Tw$308.0 while Acer was 0.22 percent lower at Tw$44.8.

— Wellington rose 26.57 points, or 0.81 percent, to 3,315.57.

Fletcher Building closed up 1.1 percent to NZ$6.50, while Telecom rose 0.70 percent to NZ$2.16.

— Mumbai was closed for a public holiday.