Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday after Greece’s creditors agreed to extend more financial aid to the debt-struck country, with Tokyo shares ending at a seven-month high, while stocks in Shanghai fell to near four-year lows.
The Nikkei 225 Index in Japan gained 34.36 points, or 0.4%, to 9,423.30, another high since late April.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 17.78 points, or 0.1%, to 21,844.03
The broad gains came after euro-zone finance ministers, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund all agreed early Tuesday in Brussels to disburse bailout funds to Greece. The IMF said the initiatives include debt buybacks and a reduction on some interest payments by Greece.
The dollar moved lower after news of the Greek deal broke, with the U.S. unit trading at 82.17 yen by late afternoon in Tokyo Tuesday, unmoved the level seen in late North American action Monday.
After a recently strong run, some currency-sensitive Japanese exporters retreated as a result, with Honda Motor Co. down 1.4%, and Toyota Motor Corp. losing 1.3%.
But Japanese banks cheered the European agreement, buoying the market. Among the gainers, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rose 0.5% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. added 1.4%.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. fell 1.4% after a Nikkei business daily report the firm planned to cut its fleet to 940 from 981 in an effort to turn its business around, following a profit-forecast downgrade last month.
Also in Tokyo, Kansai Electric Power Co. rose 2.7%, recovering from a lower open after a separate Nikkei report said that the firm applied late Monday to raise electricity prices for households.
South Korean stocks rose after the government’s decision to cut the limit on foreign-exchange forward positions in a move that would discourage taking on short-term foreign currency debt and could help stem the won’s appreciation, helping exporters.
Kia Motors Corp. rose 2.9% and Hyundai Motor Co. jumped 3.7%, while Samsung Electronics Co. added 0.9%.
In Australia, CSL Ltd. rallied 6.9% after the blood-products firm upgraded its fiscal-year profit forecast.
In Hong Kong, casino operator Sands China Ltd. rose 1.8%, after shares of its parent Las Vegas Sands Corp. jumped in U.S. after-hours trading on news it was declaring a special dividend.
Shares of China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group lost 6.7% after the company’s chairman, Zhang Zhirong, stepped down. His decision came weeks after an investment firm he controlled settled a case involving insider-trading allegations in the U.S.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 Composite Index fell 24.96 points, or 1.2%, to 2,150.64
Tuesday’s drop in Shanghai came even as data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed industrial profits jumped 20.5% in October from the year-ago period, much stronger than the 7.8% increase in September, and reaffirming an improvement in macro-economic conditions.
The improvement in October profits was driven in part by a fall in commodity prices, as well as due to a softer statistical base in the year-earlier period, said some experts.
Several chemical and pharmaceutical stocks lost ground in Shanghai, with Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Co. down 5.6% and Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial Group Co. dropping 8.8%.
Shares of Jiugui Liquor Co. plunged by the day’s 10% limit in Shenzhen, after excessive levels of a toxic chemical were found in a baijiu brand of the company recently. State-owned news service Xinhua cited media reports as saying the company would suspend production for equipment upgrades.
The weakness in Shanghai contrasted with broad gains across the region after the Eurogroup deal on Greece debt-reduction targets.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index took on 7.41 points, or 0.3%, to 3,011.91
Korea’s Kospi index recovered 16.69 points, or 0.9%, to 1,925.20
Taiwan’s Taiex Index moved ahead 22.83 points, or 0.3%, to 7,430.20
New Zealand’s NZX 50 eased off 2.42 points, or 0.1%, to 4,009.61
Australia’s ASX Index added 32.64 points, or 0.7%, to 4,456.83
