Asian stocks pause amid Greek relief; euro holds losses with oil
By Bloomberg
Asian stocks took a breather Friday, with optimism over Greece and China fueling their best week since April. The euro hovered near a seven-week low and oil held losses, while high-yielding currencies attempted a rebound.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.1 percent by 9:33 a.m. in Tokyo, still headed for a 2.2 percent climb in the week as indexes in Japan and Korea held onto gains. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge neared a record Thursday. The euro was at $1.0880 after slipping more than 1 percent the past two days, while New Zealand’s dollar rose 0.2 percent to pare its worst weekly drop since January. U.S. oil was near a three-week low. Copper fell.
Equity volatility has eased this week with the Greek parliament’s endorsement of bailout measures boosting prospects of a resolution to the months long saga. Chinese stocks snapped a two-day retreat Thursday, quelling concern over a resumption in the equity rout. The focus is shifting back to central bank policy, with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reinforcing an upbeat message on the U.S. economy before inflation data Friday.
“China worries have died down and Greece is now a non- issue,” Evan Lucas, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG Ltd., wrote in an e-mail to clients. “The next month or two may be the first positive months since February.”
Technology shares drove gains in the U.S. Thursday, with the Nasdaq Composite Index climbing to a record as Netflix Inc. jumped 18 percent after reporting a bigger-than-estimated surge in subscribers. EBay Inc. also advanced after disclosing results, and Google Inc. climbed about 10 percent in after- market trading on better-than-expected earnings and a slowdown in spending.
China Futures
Futures Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.5 percent, in most recent trading, while contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong, climbed 0.7 percent after a 0.6 percent rebound in the index Thursday. FTSE China A50 Index futures traded in Singapore were little changed, and contracts on the CSI 300 Index jumped 3.7 percent.
Singapore’s markets are closed Friday with Indonesia, which is shut through Tuesday for a holiday.
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