(MENAFN- FxPro) Shares in Tokyo and Sydney held stronger in Asia Tuesday, but Greater China saw more of a slump despite efforts by the government to calm the market and as investors looked ahead to a summit of euro zone leaders to discuss the next steps with Greece.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.38% after the break, while the S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.44% after the Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate steady at a record-low 2.0% on Tuesday as expected, noting that further fall in the currency is both likely and necessary.
The Shanghai Composite however was down 3.19% at the break and the Hang Seng index eased 1.17%.
Earlier, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras received hard news from International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Monday that policy prohibits lending to countries that have missed payments, although it can offer advice of the staff, an IMF spokesman said.
Lagarde spoke to Tsipras by telephone and did say that technical talks could be held with staff
"The Managing Director explained the Fund's inability to disburse under its arrears policy, but offered to provide technical assistance where requested by the Greek authorities," the IMF spokesman said.
Greece missed payments to the IMF on June 30.
As well, U.S. President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew each spoke to key officials in Europe Monday.
Lew told Tsipras and newly-installed Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos that it was important to work "toward a constructive outcome that will allow Greece to make difficult but necessary fiscal and structural reforms, return to growth, and achieve debt sustainability within the euro zone," the Treasury said.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were lower after the close on Monday, as losses in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.26%, while the S&P 500 index fell 0.39%, and the NASDAQ Composite index declined 0.34%.
Data showed that U.S. service sector activity grew at a slower pace than expected in June although the greenback remained broadly supported by the outcome of Sunday's Greek referendum.
The Institute of Supply Management reported on Monday that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index inched up to 56.0 last month, up from 55.7 in May but below forecasts for a reading of 56.2.
European officials have indicated that they will only continue to finance Greece in return for far-reaching economic reforms.
Tsipras welcomed the outcome of the vote and said Athens was returning to negotiations with the express goal of reopening banks, which have been shut for over a week after capital controls were imposed.
Without more emergency funding from the European Central Bank, Greece's banks could run out of cash within days.
At the weekend, China announced emergency measures from Beijing, under which brokerages and fund managers vowed to buy massive amounts of stocks, helped by China's state-backed margin finance company, which in turn would be aided by a direct line of liquidity from the central bank.
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