Asian shares fall on eurozone fears

A trader watches a monitor at a foreign exchange market in Tokyo, Thursday, May 24, 2012. Asian stock markets struggled to make headway Thursday as the lack of a breakthrough in Europe's attempts to shake off its debt crisis kept sentiment gloomy. AP PHOTO/SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

HONG KONG—Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday and the euro hit a 22-month low against the dollar after European leaders failed to agree a plan to save Greece from exiting the eurozone.

While a summit in Brussels saw a pledge of support for Athens it highlighted divisions between France and Germany on dealing with the crisis that threatens to rupture the euro project.

Tokyo was flat, edging up 6.78 points to 8,563.38, and Seoul gained 0.32 percent, or 5.85 points, to 1,814.47, while Sydney slipped 0.28 percent, or 11.2 points, to 4,055.8.

Hong Kong ended 0.64 percent, or 119.79 points, lower at 18,666.40 while Shanghai fell 0.53 percent, or 12.46 points, to 2,350.97.

Investors had been looking for the get-together to come up with a plan to keep debt-laden Greece in the euro with a general election next month expected to see a triumph for anti-austerity parties, who have promised to tear up a bailout deal.

Such an event would likely lead to Athens leaving the euro, which analysts fear would have a knock-on effect for other troubled economies such as Spain and Italy.

A vote on May 6 saw pro-austerity rulers kicked out office but left no overall winner.

European leaders expressed their desire to see Greece remain part of the eurozone but said it must continue with the reforms it promised as part of its second bailout deal with the EU and International Monetary Fund.

French President Francois Hollande said there was “no time to waste” in encouraging growth in the eurozone but German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood steadfast against his calls for jointly pooled eurozone debt, or eurobonds.

“I say that we have to act straight away for growth… otherwise there will still be doubt on the markets,” said Hollande, in his first summit since ousting Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this month.

Merkel seemed to be growing more isolated and faced pressure to give ground on her hardline austerity doctrine, which has seen waves of protests across Europe and many of her allies – including Sarkozy – kicked out of office.

However, she rejected the call for eurobonds on the grounds they are “not a contribution to stimulating growth in the eurozone” and adding that such instruments ran contrary to EU treaties.

Greece’s finance ministry “categorically” denied the other 16 eurozone member states were told this week to “reflect” on what a Greek exit would mean for their economies.

But diplomats said on the sidelines that officials had been told to make contingency plans for such an event.

And Germany’s central bank said in its latest monthly report that if Athens were to exit, the challenges for the eurozone and Berlin would be “substantial” but “manageable.”

In early European trade the euro bought $1.2570 from $1.2582 in New York late Wednesday. Earlier in Asia it hit $1.2545, its lowest since July 2010.

And against the Japanese currency, the euro was at 99.87 yen from 99.96 yen after falling below 100 yen in New York for the first time since February.

The dollar was at 79.38 yen, from 79.43 yen.

On Wall Street the Dow ended flat, the S&P 500 rose 0.17 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq added 0.39 percent.

Oil prices rose. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for delivery in July, was up 51 cents at $90.41 per barrel while Brent North Sea crude for July gained 78 cents to $105.62.

Gold was at $1,566.30 an ounce at 1045 GMT, compared with $1,556.25 late Wednesday.

In other markets:

— Singapore was flat, edging down 0.89 points to 2,779.53.

Oil rig maker Keppel Corp. shed 0.20 percent to Sg$9.99 while real estate developer Capitaland was up 1.24 percent at Sg$2.46.

— Taipei eased 0.32 percent, or 22.86 points, to 7,124.89.

Hon Hai Precision was 1.95 percent lower at Tw$85.3 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 1.90 percent to close at Tw$80.6.

— Manila was down 0.49 percent, or 24.31 points, at 4,904.22.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 1.01 percent to 2,358 pesos and Universal Robina dropped 3.01 percent to 57.95 pesos.

— Wellington slipped 0.40 percent, or 14.01 points, to 3,496.19.

Contact Energy fell 1.03 percent to NZ$4.81, Fletcher Building lost 1.90 percent to NZ$6.18 and Telecom was 0.39 percent higher at NZ$2.59.

— Jakarta was flat, nudging 3.30 points lower to 3,984.87.

Coal company Bumi Resources rose 4.0 percent to 1,840 rupiah, palm oil producer Astra Agro gained 4.6 percent to 19,200 rupiah and heavyweight Telkom lost 3.2 percent to 7,500 rupiah.

— Bangkok closed 1.36 percent, or 15.08 points, higher at 1,125.78.

Banpu gained 1.29 percent to 470 baht, while PTT added 1.62 percent to 313 baht.

— Kuala Lumpur rose 0.55 percent, or 8.54 points, to 1,548.25.

Power utility Tenaga Nasional rose two percent to close at 6.54 ringgit and Malayan Banking gained 0.8 percent to 8.50 ringgit, while AMMB Holdings ended unchanged at 6.17 ringgit.

— Mumbai rose 1.72 percent, or 274.2 points, to 16,222.3.

India’s biggest oil explorer Oil and Natural gas Corp. (ONGC) rose 6.01 percent to 257.6 rupees while mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel gained 5.98 percent to 298.8.