Asia bourses rise as Greece woes ease

Traders work at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Shares closed up 252.49 points to 25,415.27 yesterday.AFP/TokyoAsian markets mostly rose yesterday after the European Central Bank boosted emergency aid to Greece and eurozone chiefs agreed a bridging loan to the country, while Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied as fears over a renewed mainland rout eased. Buying was also given a bump by a record close on Wall Street, where investors were cheered by upbeat earnings, the easing of the Greek crisis and a stabilisation of China’s markets after a month of plunges. Tokyo rose 0.25%, or 50.80 points, to 20,650.92, marking a five-day winning streak. Shanghai jumped 3.51%, or 134.18 points, to 3,957.35 – the index has now risen for two straight weeks, clawing back some of the huge losses suffered in just under a month after hitting a June 12 peak. However, it is still down more than 23%. Hong Kong ended 1.00% higher, adding 252.49 points to 25,415.27. Sydney closed flat, adding just 0.5 of a point, or 0.01%, to end the week at 5,670.1 but Seoul dipped 0.53%, or 11.10 points to 2,076.79. In other markets, Bangkok slipped 0.13%, or 1.95 points, to 1,479.31; Bumrungrad Hospital climbed 2.03% to 201baht, while telecoms group True Corp fell 0.87% to 11.40 baht. Taipei ended marginally higher, adding 3.77 points to 9,045.98; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co gained 2.56% to Tw$140.0 while Hon Hai Precision Industry was 0.94% lower at Tw$95.1. Wellington rose 0.51%, or 29.62 points, to 5,853.77; Air New Zealand was up 1.34% at NZ$2.655 and Contact Energy added 0.97% to NZ$5.20. Singapore, Jakarta, Manila and Kuala Lumpur were closed for public holidays. The ECB increased its lifeline to Greece, meaning the country’s lenders can open on Monday for the first time in three weeks, while its head, Mario Draghi, threw his weight behind IMF calls for debt relief for Athens. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, also agreed in theory to grant Greece a three-month 7.0bn-euro bridging loan to keep its economy afloat until its new bailout is ratified. And eurozone ministers agreed to start bailout talks, hours after MPs in Athens gave the OK to tough reforms demanded by creditors. “All of this uncertainty will require the ECB to maintain super-easy policies for even longer than was the case already,” said Kit Juckes of Societe Generale. On currency markets, the euro was at $1.0898 from $1.0875 in New York, although it has tumbled from levels above $1.1100 last Friday. However, the unit rose to ¥135.16 from ¥135 as dealers bet on Japan introducing more stimulus to boost the economy after its central bank cut its growth and inflation forecasts. The dollar was at ¥124 from ¥124.14 in US trade but much stronger than the ¥123.80 earlier Thursday in Asia. Traders are shifting back to the US unit as the dust settles on the crises in Greece and China, and after Fed chief Janet Yellen said she expects rates to rise by the year’s end as the world’s top economy gets back into gear. “China worries have died down and Greece is now a non-issue,” Evan Lucas, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG, wrote in an e-mail to clients. “The next month or two may be the first positive months since February,” he said, according to Bloomberg News. Chinese markets are slowly edging back up after a month-long sell-off that saw them plunge by a third in just over three weeks, wiping trillions off valuations. The losses were only staunched by strict government measures introduced last week to prevent a meltdown. The positive sentiment lifted US traders. The Nasdaq surged 1.26% to a new record, the Dow rose 0.39% and the S&P 500 gained 0.80%. On oil markets US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose one cent to $50.92 a barrel and Brent crude for September, a new contract, advanced 17 cents to $57.09. Gold fetched $1,144.18 compared with $1,144.42 late Thursday.