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.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index dropped 174.12 points, or 1%, to 17,504.62.
The yen weakened a little against the U.S. dollar at ¥117.33 from ¥117.30 late Wednesday in New York.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 85.73 points, or 0.4%, to 24,765.49,
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. dived 9.9%, after the company reported a drop in quarterly profit. Oil explorers also suffered as global crude prices slid, with Inpex Corporation tumbling 4%, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. losing 3%.
However, media conglomerate Sony Corp. surged 12%, as the company raised its full-year earnings forecast.
CHINA
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.
The Shanghai CS300 index eased 34.82 points, or 1%, to 3,366.95, despite that the People’s Bank of China made its first industry-wide reserve-ratio cut in more than two years.
In other markets;
The Kospi in Korea erased 9.95 points, or 0.5%, to 1,952.84
In Taiwan, the Taiex index fell 1.87 points to 9,512.05
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index shed 10.99 points, or 0.3%, to 3,406.58
New Zealand’s NZX 50 index hiked 12.28 points, or 0.2%, to 5,797.59
The S&P/ASX index added 33.64 points, or 0.6%, to 5,818.98
