(MENAFN- AFP) The euro rebounded on Tuesday after being hit by concerns about Greece's bailout reform talks, while Shanghai added to the previous day's strong rally after China's interest rate cut raised hopes for further economy-boosting measures.
However, regional investors still remain jittery about proceedings in Europe as Athens warned it is close to running out of money, while Wall Street also provided a negative lead.
Tokyo reversed early losses thanks to bargain buying and ended marginally up, adding 3.93 points to close at 19,624.84. Sydney rose 0.88 percent, or 49.50 points, to 5,674.70 hours before the government unveils its budget later in the day.
Shanghai jumped 1.50 percent in late trade a day after rallying more than three percent.
Hong Kong retreated 0.40 percent in late exchanges and Seoul closed flat, edging down 0.61 points to 2,096.77.
US shares ticked down on Monday, ending a two-day advance, as nerves set in over Greece's bailout reform talks.
Athens has managed to garner enough money to repay the International Monetary Fund 750 million euros ($840 million) and avoid a default, keeping it from tumbling out of the eurozone for now.
However, the bloc's finance ministers, meeting in Brussels, said Greece could not hope for any of the final 7.2-billion-euro tranche of its 240-billion-euro EU-IMF bailout until it makes key reforms.
And with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis admitting the country faced an imminent crisis, investors fear for its future in the eurozone.
On Wall Street the Dow fell 0.47 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.51 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.20 percent.
The euro, which suffered a sell-off Monday in US trade, was higher. It bought $1.1192 and 134.49 yen in Tokyo Tuesday, compared with $1.1154 and 133.97 yen in New York.
The dollar was at 120.10 yen against 120.11 yen in US trade.
In Shanghai, buying was supported by Sunday's 25 basis point rate cut, the third since November.
''It's pretty clear that the Chinese officials are still very much in easing mode and the rally for now is still well supported, more by liquidity than economic fundamentals,'' Ankur Patel, chief investment officer at R-Squared Macro Management LLC, told Bloomberg News. ''We do expect more easing.''
Shanghai and Hong Kong's stock markets have surged this year on expectations the government will unveil a slew of stimulus measures to kickstart growth in the Chinese economy, which expanded last year at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century.
On oil markets US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell four cents to $59.21 while Brent crude for June eased 12 cents to $64.79 in afternoon trade.
Gold fetched $1,184.11 from $1,185.20 late Monday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei rose 0.18 percent, or 17.01 points, to 9,680.73.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 0.67 percent to Tw$147.5 while smartphone maker HTC was 0.45 percent lower at Tw$110.5.
-- Wellington was flat, edging down 1.72 points to 5,746.23.
Air New Zealand fell 0.36 percent to NZ$2.8 and Spark rose 1.41 percent to NZ$2.87.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.