HONG KONG: Japan stocks retreated on Thursday, as concerns mounted over Greece’s debt talks with its creditors after the European Central Bank said it would no longer accept Greek sovereign bonds as collateral.
Meanwhile, Shanghai stocks erased earlier gains and turned sharply lower, as the Chinese central bank’s latest move to boost bank lending failed to lift the markets.
Japan’s Nikkei Average NIK, -0.99% declined 1%, with the broader Topix I0000, -0.49% down 0.5%. The yen USDJPY, +0.04% weakened a little against the dollar at ¥117.33 from ¥117.30 late Wednesday in New York.
A day earlier, The ECB said it would suspend a waiver which allowed Greek banks to use government bonds as collateral for central bank loans.
In Japan, electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. 6501, -9.88% dived 9.9%, after the company reported a drop in quarterly profit. Oil explorers also suffered as global crude prices slid, with Inpex Corporation 1605, -3.99% tumbling 4%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. 1662, -3.04% losing 3%.
However, media conglomerate Sony Corp. 6758, +12.01% surged 12%, as the company raised its full-year earnings forecast.
In other Asian markets, Shanghai stocks fell for a second day, with the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -1.18% down 1.2%, despite that the People’s Bank of China made its first industry-wide reserve-ratio cut in more than two years.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.35% also trimmed gains and ended up 0.4%.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.58% rose 0.6%, while South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index SEU, -0.51% dropped 0.5%.
