Asian stocks up gracefully on Greece bailout

Most indices nudge higher on steady buying, upbeat global economic growth prospects support sentiments

Asian markets rose today, extending their previous gains as the traders eyed a recovery in the commodity prices and abating concerns on the Greece finances. With some dust being settled on the Greece fiscal scenario, the investors finally eyed the upbeat IMF world economic projections last week. On Friday, concerns about Greece eased further after the country sought aid from the International Monetary Fund to tide over its present crisis.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said yesterday that an emergency loan programme being negotiated with the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be completed in time to avoid a debt default in May. Positive closing on Wall Street on Friday on better than expected new home sales data and increasing optimism that the world's largest economy is on recovery mode also lifted market sentiment.

This pepped the Asian markets up and with the US Dollar holding Friday' lows, most of the regional benchmarks had a good outing at the start. Toyota, the world's largest carmaker had an annual operating profit instead of the loss Toyota forecast, media reports stated. This pushed the stock market in Japan up as exporters and commodity driven stocks soared. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 251.33 points, or 2.3%, to 11,166, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues advanced 18.51 points, or 1.9%, to 997.

On the economic front, a report released by the Bank of Japan revealed that the country's corporate service price index declined 1.1% year-over-year in March. The decline was slightly lesser than the revised 1.2% drop seen in the previous month and also tamer than the expected.

However, Chinese equities fell on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.47 percent, led by financial and real estate companies. The country tightened real estate financing by requiring developers to submit fund-raising plans for review, stepping up efforts to prevent a bubble, even as the central bank pledged to maintain an “easy” monetary policy. The major gauge index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange ended at 2,969.5 points, down 14.03 points, or 0.47 percent. The Shenzhen Component Index ended at 11,602.63 points, sliding 100.24 points, or 0.86 percent.

Greece, on Friday asked the EU and IMF to activate an estimated 60-billion-dollar emergency loan to help it avoid default. Greece's next debt payment is due by May 19. Greece's debt crisis has roiled the Euro zone and markets around the world and prompted deep divisions within the European Union over whether to bail Greece out.

In other markets, Taiwan's Taiex index climbed 1.9 % while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.6 % and The NZX-50 ended up broadly flat. Australian markets were closed for a national holiday while South Korea's Kospi Index rose 0.9%.

In Mumbai, The key benchmark indices edged higher for the fifth straight day on firm global stocks and forecast of a normal monsoon this year. The BSE 30-share Sensex was provisionally up 42.94 points or 0.24%, off close to 90 points from the day's high and up close to 45 points from the days low. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was positive. The breadth was much stronger earlier in the day.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was up 42.94 points or 0.24% to 17,737.14 as per provisional figures. The Sensex rose 132.28 points at the day's high of 17,826.48 in early trade. The S&P CNX Nifty was up 15.35 points or 0.29% to 5319.45 as per provisional figures.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Friday, with Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 69.99 points at 11204.28 as investors eyed the upbeat economic data alongside the Greece alleviations. Market sentiment was lifted by better-than-expected U.S. home sales data on Friday,

Crude oil futures traded slightly higher in Asian hours Monday, boosted by regional equities and increased optimism about the global economic recovery. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June traded at $85.40 a barrel, up 28 cents or 0.33% in the Globex electronic session. Other commodities are also higher with COMEX Copper trading up 2 cents or 0.58% at $3.53 per pound while Gold is hovering at $1156.30, up $2.60 or 0.23% after hitting a high of $1160.70 per ounce.