Asian shares higher on eurozone hopes
HONG KONG—Asian stock markets rose Tuesday following a rally on Wall Street as dealers grew optimistic that the Greek debt crisis may be resolved soon.
As attention turned to a confidence vote in Greece’s prime minister and the beginning of a meeting of the US Federal Reserve policy committee, investors were keen to pick up cheaper stocks after selling in the previous two sessions.
Tokyo rose 1.13 percent, or 105.34 points, to 9,459.66, Sydney added 1.27 percent, or 56.5 points, to 4,508.2 and Seoul jumped 1.41 percent, or 28.52 points, to 2,048.17.
Hong Kong added 1.16 percent, or 251.08 points, to 21,850.59 and Shanghai closed 0.96 percent higher, adding 25.23 points to 2,646.48.
Europe gave Athens a two-week deadline to pass 28.4 billion euros ($40.65 billion) of cuts, as the IMF warned the stability of the global economy rested on the confidence vote in Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government later Tuesday.
Eurozone officials decided to meet again on July 3 – to allow the vote to take place – to decide on emergency cash and work out the details of a second bailout worth more than 100 billion euros.
They will also stage a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday – with another bailout for Greece, whose debts currently exceed 350 billion euros, near the top of a packed agenda.
If Greece does not get the money in time it could default on its loans by the middle of next month, which some warn could spread to other eurozone nations and spark a financial crisis similar to that in 2008-2009.
“Failure to undertake decisive action could rapidly spread the tensions to the core of the euro area and result in large global spillovers,” an IMF report warned.
Japan Tuesday promised to keep providing support, saying it would continue buying bonds from a eurozone rescue fund.
Japan has previously pledged to help boost confidence in the bonds issued by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), amid concerns earlier this year for eurozone nations such as Portugal and Ireland.
The Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is expected to announce interest rates being kept on hold, will also provide a clearer view of the state of the world’s number one economy.
Dealers will also want to hear what its chairman Ben Bernanke has to say after the meeting ends.
“The widespread view is that the slowdown of the US economy is temporary, but investors want to confirm whether that’s the understanding during Bernanke’s press conference,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.
The committee is expected to announce its $600 billion Treasury bond purchases program will expire as scheduled by the end of June, and not announce additional stimulus despite weak economic growth.
Upbeat sentiment was reflected on Wall Street, with the Dow up 0.63 percent, the broader S&P 500 0.54 percent higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gaining 0.50 percent.
In Sydney, Foster’s surged 13.47 percent after it turned down a $10 billion takeover offer from brewing giant SABMiller, saying it significantly undervalued the company. Despite the rejection SABMiller said it would continue to pursue the drinks firm.
The euro firmed against the dollar in afternoon Tokyo trade, changing hands at $1.4365 against $1.4301 in New York late Monday while it also rose to 115.17 yen from 114.77. The dollar dipped slightly to 80.14 yen from 80.20 yen.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for July delivery, rose 54 cents to $93.80 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for August eased 16 cents to $111.53.
Gold closed in Hong Kong at $1,544-$1,545 an ounce, up from Monday’s close of $1,537-$1,538.
In other markets:
— Taipei rose 0.78 percent, or 66.94 points, to 8,597.62.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added 1.34 percent to Tw$75.9 while IC design house MediaTek surged 5.76 percent to Tw$312.0.
— Manila gained 1.41 percent, or 58.70 points, to 4,211.81.
SM Investments was off 0.5 percent at 537 pesos and Philippine Long Distance Telephone gained 5.4 percent to 2,322 pesos while UnionBank was unchanged at 59.50.
— Wellington closed down 0.23 percent, or 7.93 points, at 3,459.56.
Contact Energy fell 3.1 percent to NZ$5.57 and Fletcher Building slipped 0.7 percent to NZ$8.50.
— Jakarta rose 65.82 points, or 1.76 percent, to 3,794.94.
Coal producer Bumi Resources gained 4.2 percent to Rp 3,100, Bank Rakyat rose 1.6 percent to Rp 6,350, while food producer Indofood increased 4.7 percent to Rp 5,600.
— Kuala Lumpur ended up 0.10 percent, or 1.60 points, to close at 1,560.79.
Insurance firm MAA Holdings shed 30 percent to 0.73 ringgit, construction company Muhibbah Engineering lost 7.2 percent to 1.42 and gaming Berjaya Sports Toto lost 3.1 percent to 4.38.
Finance RHB Capital added 0.2 percent to 9.58 ringgit and Petronas Chemicals gained 0.9 percent to 7.08.
— Singapore closed up 39.91 points, or 1.33 percent, to 3,053.51.
Singapore Telecom gained 1.33 percent to Sg$3.06 and container shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines rose 5.52 percent to Sg$1.53.
— Bangkok rose 1.44 percent, or 14.63 points, to close at 1,027.72.
Banpu added 10 baht to 720 and PTT Plc gained 5 baht to 334.
— Mumbai rose 0.31 percent, or 53.67 points, to 17,560.3.
India’s largest software outsourcer TCS rose 3.24 percent or 34.6 rupees to 1,104.15 while the largest private firm Reliance Industries rose 1.67 percent or 13.9 rupees to 848.9.
