Asia shares mixed on eurozone worries

HONG KONG—Asian shares were mixed Thursday as concerns about Greece’s debt crisis returned to worry investors but domestic factors also came into play.

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.78 percent, or 168.29 points, to 21,380.99 but the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, ended up 0.25 percent, or 5.96 points, at 2,409.55 – its highest close for almost three months.

Traders have grown nervous over whether Greece will be able to carry out the reforms necessary to implement its multibillion-dollar rescue deal, and ratings agency Fitch said Wednesday it saw a Greek default as “highly likely in the near term.”

Alex Wong of Ample Finance Group told Dow Jones Newswires that Hong Kong’s “index will likely consolidate in the next few sessions as good news appears to be running out.”

In mainland China a cut in bank reserves announced at the weekend will take effect on Friday, but analysts believe Beijing needs to give the domestic economy another boost.

“We expect further (market) gains in the pipeline, as expectations are high that more pro-growth policies will be introduced,” said Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities.

Europe’s main stock markets eased in early trade Thursday as some of the region’s biggest banks announced heavy losses.

London’s FTSE 100 index nudged down 0.03 percent to 5,914.85 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 dipped 0.07 percent to 6,843.87 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.28 percent to 3,437.77.

“Equity markets globally now seem to have reached an interesting inflection point after… a great start to the year,” said Stan Shamu, Australia-based market strategist at IG Markets, in a note.

“Investors are still hesitant to buy into the global growth story, due in part to persistent concerns about how bad things can go in Europe, and partly due to uncertainty on how China will manage in its attempt to engineer a soft landing.”

Australian stocks were down, the S&P/ASX 200 closing off 0.16 percent, or 6.9 points, at 4,286.2 after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a leadership ballot in the Labor party following the resignation of Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.

“Everyone is sick of the ridiculous politics going on. Even the Australian dollar, losing some ground after Kevin Rudd’s announcement, seems sick of the uncertainty it is creating in the domestic market,” Kara Ordway, FX Strategist at City Index said in a note.

But the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange hit a new six-month high, rising 41.57 points to 9,595.57. The Topix index of all first-section issues ended up 0.48 percent, or 3.95 points, at 829.35.

The Nikkei is on pace to reach 9,800 in the near term as the yen continues to fall against the dollar, helping exporter shares, said Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities.

The greenback held on to some of its gains and was at 80.06 yen, from 80.29 overnight in New York, after it reached the psychologically significant 80-yen mark for the first time in more than six months on Wednesday.

The euro was trading at $1.3322 and 106.63 yen, up from $1.3252 and 106.41 yen.

New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained four cents to $106.32 while Brent North Sea crude for April was up $1.04 to $123.94 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,778.80 an ounce at 1010 GMT, from $1,753.60 on Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Seoul was 1.03 percent, or 20.85 points, lower at 2,007.80.

— Singapore was down 0.91 percent, or 27.25 points, to 2,968.34.

Shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines shed 5.61 percent to Sg$1.35 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. gained 0.34 percent to Sg$8.98.

— Taipei fell 0.80 percent, or 64.38 points, to 7,937.3.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. lost 2.01 percent at Tw$78.1 while leading smartphone maker HTC was 0.80 percent higher at Tw$628.0.

— Kuala Lumpur was down 0.25 percent, or 3.86 points, at 1,556.66.

Sime Darby lost 0.1 percent to 9.63 ringgit, CIMB eased 1.1 percent to 7.16, DiGi fell 0.5 percent to 3.99 while Axiata added 1.6 percent to 5.09 ringgit.

— Jakarta was down 0.9 percent, or 36.21 points, to 3,958.81.

Nickel miner Aneka Tambang declined 2 percent to 1,960 rupiah, while car maker Astra International fell 2.1 percent to 70,850 rupiah.

— Wellington fell 0.15 percent, or 5.08 points, to 3,323.16.

Fletcher Building was down 0.77 percent at NZ$6.46, while Air New Zealand rose 1.12 percent to NZ$0.89.

— Manila was 0.83 percent, or 40.81 points, lower at 4,893.48.

Philodrill Corp. slumped 16.36 percent to 4.6 centavos, but top-traded Union Bank of the Philippines soared 25 percent to 115 pesos.

— Bangkok edged up 0.20 percent, or 2.25 points, to 1,140.07.

Banpu fell 1.51 percent to 652 baht, while PTT added 0.28 percent to 359 baht.

— Mumbai fell 0.37 percent, or 66.75 points, to 18,078.5.