TOKYO: Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday as Athens and its European creditors inched toward a deal on renegotiating the punishing terms of Greece’s bailout.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.9 percent to 24,641.41 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5 percent to 1,950.30. China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 1.6 percent to 3,223.17. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2.4 percent to 5,879.60 on expectations the central bank will lower interest rates again after unemployment rose. Southeast Asian markets mostly gained but Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.5 percent to 17,897.78 as the dollar weakened a little against the yen.
Greece and its creditors in the 19-country eurozone took visible, if modest, steps to bridge their differences over Athens’ demands to lighten the load of its bailout. But a deal is still some way off. Following weeks of haggling, the two sides made a series of encouraging noises at a summit of European Union leaders and even agreed to start technical discussions to inform a meeting of the eurozone’s finance ministers Monday. Investors are hopeful that a deal will be reached to avoid Greece’s exit from the euro.
Yosuke Shimizu, analyst at Argo Navis consultancy, believes the dip in Tokyo is temporary. Japanese companies are mostly reporting positive results, and currency fluctuations are relatively stable minor, he said. “There isn’t much reason for pessimism,” he told NTV news.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 19.95 points, or 1 percent, to 2,088.48 on Thursday. The index is within two points of its record close of 2,090.57, set Dec. 29. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 110.24 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,972. The Nasdaq composite climbed 56.43 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,857.61.
Benchmark U.S. crude was up 24 cents to $51.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $2.37 on Thursday after the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell said he expected crude demand to grow faster than supply this year. Brent crude was up 49 cents at $59.77 a barrel in London.
The dollar, after hitting 120 yen levels recently, has been falling, trading at 118.60 yen Friday from 118.85 yen the previous session. The euro rose to $1.1417 from $1.1404.
