Greek fears resurface to head Asia lower

Stocks give away some of the recent advances, dollar hits two week high

Asian markets headed lower today, struggling to extend the yesterday's gains as the investors fretted over renewed worries on Greece's fiscal condition and US dollar continued to strengthen, pressurizing commodities. The weak overnight US cues and raft of central banking decisions in Europe also tilted the balance more in the favor of the sellers.

The stock market in Japan ended in negative territory taking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended in negative territory on concerns about sustaining economic recovery after a consumer credit report revealed wider than expected drop in February.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index dropped 124.63 points, or 1.10%, to 11,168.20, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues was down 9.55 points, or 0.96%, to 986.

On the economic front, a preliminary report released by the Cabinet Office revealed that core machinery orders declined 7.1% year-over-year in February, following 1.1% contraction in the previous month. On a monthly basis, core machinery orders were down 5.4% after the 3.7% decline in January.

A report released by the Ministry of Finance revealed that the country posted a current account surplus of 1.471 trillion yen in February, up 29.6% year-over-year. The report further noted that the adjusted current account balance showed a surplus of 1.119 trillion yen after the 1.712 trillion yen surplus in the previous month.

The Australian market snapped three-day gains and slipped on profit selling in tune with the global markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index declined 23.00 points, or 0.46% to close at 4,938, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,960, representing a loss of 22.90 points, or 0.46%.

On the economic front, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that unemployment rate in the country remained unchanged in March compared to February, while the number of employed persons increased in line with expectations. According to the report, the unemployment rate in the country stood at a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in March, in line with the economists' expectations.