A rebound in China fizzled Tuesday as investors question whether the rally would be able to continue without fresh government help.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index moved up 295.56 points, or 1.5%, 20.385.33,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index backed off 103.10, or 0.4%, to 25,120.91, after rebounding by over 7% in the last three trading days.
Greece’s deal has quieted fears that it will leave the euro-zone — at least for now. Major stock indexes in the U.S. and Europe cheered the news, all but erasing losses that piled up after the Greek prime minister called for a referendum on creditors’ demands.
Still, Greece’s status is far from settled. The 86 billion euro ($96 billion U.S.) is contingent on pushing through strict measures in the coming days, including pension cuts and higher sales taxes — conditions even tougher than those rejected in the referendum on July 5.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 gave up 99.66 points, or 2.4%, to 4,112.15
Officials have put a dramatic set of measures to work in recent days to rescue the stock market, some of which appear to be bearing fruit. Those have included establishing a fund to help brokerages buy stocks, suspending new company listings and making it easier to borrow to buy stocks.
Yet many say the bigger picture hasn’t changed. Despite Beijing’s heavy intervention, investors who faced staggering losses over the past few weeks still don’t want to buy.
China’s securities regulator also has tightened scrutiny of trading on margin — borrowing money to buy stocks — outside of approved channels. The regulator has increased scrutiny of peer-to-peer lending, which consists of online platforms that directly link people who need a loan with potential lenders.
Late Monday, the regulator said it went to the offices of Hundsun Technologies Inc., a financial-technology-services company that provides a cloud-computing-based system, called HOMS, used by peer-to-peer lenders to reach brokers. Hundsun is part-owned by an investment vehicle for Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
In corporate news, China’s state-owned Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. has submitted a bid to buy U.S. memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. for $23 billion U.S., in what could be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm.
The bid reflects the Chinese government’s push for domestic sources of semiconductors, which are used in defense equipment and electronics products like smartphones. Shares of NASDAQ-listed Micron have fallen by nearly half in the past year, and closed up 0.2% at $17.61 U.S.on Monday.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index inched up 7.84 points, or 0.1%, to 9,041.76
In Korea, the Kospi index moved down 2.29 points, or 0.1%, to 2,059.23
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index picked up 5.28 points, or 0.2%, to 3,316.50
The NZX 50 regained 44.18 points, or 0.8%, to 5,750.88
The ASX 200 Index gained 104.23 points, or 1.9%, to 5,577.40
