Asia shares lower on eurozone worries
HONG KONG — Asian shares were broadly lower Thursday as concerns about Greece's debt crisis returned to worry investors.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index was down 0.98 percent or 211.81 points at 21,337.46, with the Shanghai Composite Index off 1.29 points or 0.05 percent at 2,402.30.
Traders have grown nervous over whether Greece will be able to carry out the swinging cuts and reforms necessary to implement the multi-billion-dollar rescue deal agreed on Tuesday morning after marathon talks in Brussels.
International ratings agency Fitch said Wednesday it considered a Greek debt default "highly likely in the near term" as it cut the country's rock-bottom CCC rating to C, the lowest speculative grade and just one notch above default.
The worries also weighed on US stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending 0.21 percent, or 27.02 points, lower at 12,938.67 overnight.
"The market may encounter some mild corrections before establishing a sustained uptrend," Shenyin Wanguo Securities analyst Qian Qimin told Dow Jones Newswires.
Australian stocks were also lower, down 0.39 percent or 16.9 points at 4,276.2 after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a leadership ballot in her ruling 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 Tokyo defied the trend as the dollar remained above the 80-yen mark. The strength of the Japanese unit has hurt the country's exporters for months.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 15.63 points to 9,569.63 by the break. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.08 percent, or 0.69 points, at 826.09.
The dollar "staying firm above the ¥80 mark is providing some support." Daiwa Securities senior market analyst Yumi Nishimura told Dow Jones Newswires.
The greenback was at ¥80.13, from ¥80.29 in New York, after it reached the psychologically significant mark for the first time in more than six months on Wednesday.
The euro was trading at $1.3254 and ¥106.21, mixed from $1.3252 and ¥106.41.
In Asian trade, New York's main oil contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April, shed 48 cents to $105.80 per barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April was down 22 cents at $122.68.
Gold was at $1,774.10 an ounce at 0340 GMT, from $1,753.60 on Wednesday. — Agence France-Presse
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index was down 0.98 percent or 211.81 points at 21,337.46, with the Shanghai Composite Index off 1.29 points or 0.05 percent at 2,402.30.
Traders have grown nervous over whether Greece will be able to carry out the swinging cuts and reforms necessary to implement the multi-billion-dollar rescue deal agreed on Tuesday morning after marathon talks in Brussels.
International ratings agency Fitch said Wednesday it considered a Greek debt default "highly likely in the near term" as it cut the country's rock-bottom CCC rating to C, the lowest speculative grade and just one notch above default.
The worries also weighed on US stocks, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending 0.21 percent, or 27.02 points, lower at 12,938.67 overnight.
"The market may encounter some mild corrections before establishing a sustained uptrend," Shenyin Wanguo Securities analyst Qian Qimin told Dow Jones Newswires.
Australian stocks were also lower, down 0.39 percent or 16.9 points at 4,276.2 after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a leadership ballot in her ruling 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 Tokyo defied the trend as the dollar remained above the 80-yen mark. The strength of the Japanese unit has hurt the country's exporters for months.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 15.63 points to 9,569.63 by the break. The Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.08 percent, or 0.69 points, at 826.09.
The dollar "staying firm above the ¥80 mark is providing some support." Daiwa Securities senior market analyst Yumi Nishimura told Dow Jones Newswires.
The greenback was at ¥80.13, from ¥80.29 in New York, after it reached the psychologically significant mark for the first time in more than six months on Wednesday.
The euro was trading at $1.3254 and ¥106.21, mixed from $1.3252 and ¥106.41.
In Asian trade, New York's main oil contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April, shed 48 cents to $105.80 per barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April was down 22 cents at $122.68.
Gold was at $1,774.10 an ounce at 0340 GMT, from $1,753.60 on Wednesday. — Agence France-Presse
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