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Asian shares win reprieve but Greece, China concerns limit gains

Nikkei rises 1.2%, MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.2%

Reuters Tokyo

Asian stocks won a reprieve on Tuesday after sharp falls the previous day but investors remained on edge amid uncertainty over Greece's position in the euro and volatility in mainland Chinese share markets.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.2% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which fell to six-month low on Monday, was up 0.2%.

European and US stocks fell on Monday after Greeks voted overwhelmingly to reject more austerity. However, despite the uncertainty and general risk aversion stemming from the Greek saga, most markets were relatively becalmed following the initial selloffs.

The euro also rebounded from Monday's one-week low to fetch $1.1045 >.

 

For now investors are holding out hope that Greece will manage to strike a deal with its creditors and prevent an exit from the euro zone.

"Greece is in difficult condition. Although there is volatility in the short term and discussion will be rough, I still expect a solution to be found to avoid a very nasty situation in the end," said Alain Bokobza, Paris-based head of global asset allocation at Societe Generale, who is visiting Tokyo.

In a sign that Athens is keen to seek a new deal, Greece's combative finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, resigned on Monday, apparently under pressure from other euro zone finance ministers who did not want him as a negotiating partner.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday that Greece would bring a proposal for a deal to Tuesday's emergency euro zone summit, a Greek official said.

Still, it was unclear how much it would differ from other proposals that were rejected in the past or if creditors - especially Germany - is willing to concede some debt relief to Athens.

Asian assets were also increasingly burdened by rising concerns over massive losses in Chinese stock markets over the past month or so.

Unprecedented emergency measures from Beijing helped Chinese stocks to bounce on Monday but trading remained highly volatile.

In an extraordinary weekend of policy moves, brokerages and fund managers vowed to buy massive amounts of stocks, helped by China's state-backed margin finance company, which in turn would be aided by a direct line of liquidity from the central bank.

"Prior to the selloff the Chinese market looked bubbly, kept rising even as the economy is slowing. It will take some time for the market to calm down," said Shuji Shirota, head of macroeconomics strategy group at HSBC in Tokyo.

"Judging from Japanese experience it is not easy to support share prices just by price keeping operation," he said, referring to Japanese attempts in the 1990s to shore up the stock market by using public funds to buy shares.

Fears of instability in the Chinese economy dented many types of assets that are thought to be leveraged to demand from China.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar > fell to a six-year low of $0.7452 > on Monday and last stood at $0.7485.

Shanghai copper posted its steepest daily drop in 5 months on Monday, while Chinese steel prices are at their lowest level since the depths of the global financial crisis. Iron ore has fallen 17% since mid-June. 

In overnight trading, oil suffered its biggest selloff in five months.

On top of the Greek and China worries, traders are concerned that nuclear-compromise talks between Iran and global powers could ease sanctions against Teheran and open up oil exports to an already over-supplied market.

US crude fell 7.7% on Monday, hitting a three-month low of $52.41 a barrel and last stood at $52.90

Brent shed 6.3% on Monday and last quoted at $57.07.

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First Published: Jul 07 2015 | 6:22 AM IST

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