(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Asian stocks closed mixed yesterday, with Sydney and Shanghai buoyed by optimism over Greece and China's recent market rout while safe-haven gold slumped to a five-year low.
Shanghai led the gains, despite fresh volatility, as more firms began trading after being suspended at the height of the latest stock crisis that wiped billions off valuations.
The dollar pushed higher on expectations of a US interest rate rise this year after comments from US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen late last week, but gold tumbled as investors abandoned the yellow metal in search of better returns.
Shanghai ended 0.88% higher, advancing 34.76 points, to 3,992.11, while Sydney added 0.30%, or 16points, to close at 5,686.90.
Hong Kong was flat, edging down 10.46 points to 25,404.81, while Seoul closed 0.17% lower, giving up 3.48 points to 2,073.31.
Tokyo and Jakarta were closed for public holidays.
In other markets, Taipei fell 0.78%, or 70.98 points, to 8,975.00; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co slipped 0.71% to Tw$139.0 while Largan Precision Co rose 3.65% to Tw$3,550.0.
Wellington rose 0.14%, or 8.15 points, to 5,861.92; Air New Zealand added 0.94% to NZ$2.68 and Spark lifted 1.57% to NZ$2.905.
Manila closed 1.00% lower, giving up 75.96 points to 7,541.17; BDO Unibank dropped 1.43% to 103.50 pesos, Universal Robina gave up 2.20% to 182pesos, and Ayala Corp eased 0.66% to 758pesos.
Singapore rose 0.60%, or 20.03 points, to close at 3,373.48; Singapore Telecom climbed 0.69% to end at Sg$4.35, while oil rig maker Keppel Corp eased 12% to finish at Sg$8.17.
Kuala Lumpur dipped 0.15%, or 2.60 points, to 1,724.13; Tenaga Nasional dropped 0.65% to 12.28 ringgit, AMMB Holdings fell 0.85% to 5.83 ringgit while Sime Darby gained 0.23% to 8.61 ringgit.
Bangkok fell 0.85%, or 12.60 points, to 1,466.71; oil company PTT dropped 1.20% to 330baht, while Siam Cement lost 0.39% to 512baht.
Analysts said investors are now focussing more on macroeconomic data
after the past few months were dominated by concerns over the fallout from the Greek debt crisis and a more than 30% plunge in Chinese stocks.
Greece's banks reopened Monday after a three-week shutdown that is estimated to have cost the crisis-hit country ‚¬3.0bn ($3.3bn) in market shortages and export disruption.
Athens also started making a ‚¬4.2bn payment due to the ECB and outstanding debts to the IMF, reassuring global financial markets that it would avoid a messy 'Grexit' from the single currency.
"With Greece off the front pages for now amid Alexis Tsipras achieving a ‚¬7.16bn loan via the EFSM and a new bailout friendly government in play, we have seen the market price out the risk premium," Chris Weston at IG in Sydney said in a note to clients.
"On top of this, the People's Bank of China has continued market supportive measures even though the market was stabilising and US corporates are also beating low-ball estimates."
Eyes are now on Washington as the Federal Reserve considers when to raise interest rates from record lows as the US economy gets back up to speed. Last week Fed chief Janet Yellen stuck to her guns by predicting a rise this year.
The expectation of a US rate rise comes as the central banks of Japan and Europe are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on bonds to support their respective economies, pushing down the value of the yen and euro.
"Focus returned to monetary policy divergences," DBS Bank said in a commentary. "Europe and Japan are set to keep their quantitative easing programmes running well into 2016. The US is, on the other hand, looking to hike rates and normalise monetary policy," it added.
The dollar bought ¥124.15 in Asia yesterday compared with ¥124.09 in New York. The euro fetched $1.0868 against $1.0830, while it was also at ¥134.84 from ¥134.38.
US shares provided a healthy lead Friday, with the Nasdaq jumping 0.91% to a new record while the S&P 500 added 0.11%, although the Dow dropped 0.19%.
Chinese shares continued to advance yesterday following a more than 7% rise over the previous two weeks after Beijing introduced a series of measures to prevent a market meltdown.
Stocks had slumped for almost four weeks after hitting a high on June 12 before authorities intervened to stabilise the market. Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at Dragon Life Insurance Co, told Bloomberg News: "It looks like the rebound has legs as confidence has partially recovered."
On oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery fell 26 cents to $50.63 and Brent crude for September dipped 20 cents to $56.90 a barrel in afternoon trade.
Gold fell to as low as $1,105.80 € its lowest since March 2010 - before recovering slightly to $1,113.66. That compared to $1,144.18 late Friday.
The yellow metal, which is considered a safe asset in times of uncertainty, has steadily been falling as the US economy has shown signs of recovery in recent months.
"Any increase in US interest rates should further strengthen the dollar, prompting more fund outflows from commodities, metals and emerging market assets," said Vattana Vongseenin, the chief executive officer of Phillip Asset Management Co in Bangkok.
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