Asia markets slip on Greece vote

AFP, HONG KONG:Asian equities fell yesterday after Greece overwhelming rejected further austerity measures, pushing it closer to a eurozone exit, while Shanghai underwent another day of volatility as China introduced a raft of measures to shore up the slumping market
Despite growing concerns about Athens’ place in the eurozone, the single currency rallied after Greece’s combative Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis announced his shock resignation just hours after winning Sunday’s referendum.
Tokyo fell 2.08 per cent, or 427.67 points, to 20,112.12, Seoul shed 2.40 per cent, or 50.48 points, to 2,053.93 and Sydney lost 1.11 per cent, or 61.60 points, to 5,476.70.
Shanghai soared 7.82 per cent at the open before sinking rapidly again—losing almost one per cent briefly in the afternoon. But it ended the day 2.41 per cent higher, adding 89.00 points, to 3,775.91.
Hong Kong plunged 3.18 per cent, or 827.83 points, to 25236.28 -- wiping out a 0.70 per cent rise in the opening minutes that came on the coat-tails of the mainland gains.
More than 60 per cent of Greece’s voters heeded the government’s call to vote “No”, brushing aside warnings from European leaders that it was effectively an in-out poll on the euro.
While the euro sank to $1.0963 in US electronic trade immediately after the poll, it recovered throughout Monday and ticked even higher after Varoufakis’ announcement.
The combative Varoufakis—who has been at the centre of Athens’ high-profile debt negotiations for months—clashed with Greece’s creditors and refused to bow to their demands for tough austerity.
“Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my... ‘absence’ from its meetings,” he wrote in a blog.
It was “an idea that the Prime Minister (Alexis Tsipras) judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today”.
The single currency was also at 135.45 yen compared with 134.91 yen in the US.
“There’s nothing we can do now except lower our risk and wait,” said Ayako Sera, a strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, told Bloomberg News.
“The euro was created based on this great dream of a unified Europe, and if they withdraw from the euro then the whole system is going to come into question.”
The dollar weakened to 122.52 yen from 123.05 yen on Friday.
A series of high-level meetings were hastily arranged across the continent, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande calling a European summit for Tuesday.
German and French finance ministers were set for talks in Warsaw Monday, while the Euro Working Group of top treasury officials will meet in Brussels.
And the ECB will consider a financial lifeline for Greek lenders, which have been closed under capital controls since last weekend.

Asia markets slip on Greece vote

AFP, HONG KONG:Asian equities fell yesterday after Greece overwhelming rejected further austerity measures, pushing it closer to a eurozone exit, while Shanghai underwent another day of volatility as China introduced a raft of measures to shore up the slumping market Despite growing concerns about Athens place in the eurozone, the single currency rallied after Greeces combative Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis announced his shock resignation just hours after winning Sundays referendum. Tokyo fell 2.08 per cent, or 427.67 points, to 20,112.12, Seoul shed 2.40 per cent, or 50.48 points, to 2,053.93 and Sydney lost 1.11 per cent, or 61.60 points, to 5,476.70. Shanghai soared 7.82 per cent at the open before sinking rapidly againlosing almost one per cent briefly in the afternoon. But it ended the day 2.41 per cent higher, adding 89.00 points, to 3,775.91. Hong Kong plunged 3.18 per cent, or 827.83 points, to 25236.28 -- wiping out a 0.70 per cent rise in the opening minutes that came on the coat-tails of the mainland gains. More than 60 per cent of Greeces voters heeded the governments call to vote No, brushing aside warnings from European leaders that it was effectively an in-out poll on the euro. While the euro sank to $1.0963 in US electronic trade immediately after the poll, it recovered throughout Monday and ticked even higher after Varoufakis announcement. The combative Varoufakiswho has been at the centre of Athens high-profile debt negotiations for monthsclashed with Greeces creditors and refused to bow to their demands for tough austerity. Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted partners, for my... absence from its meetings, he wrote in a blog. It was an idea that the Prime Minister (Alexis Tsipras) judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today. The single currency was also at 135.45 yen compared with 134.91 yen in the US. Theres nothing we can do now except lower our risk and wait, said Ayako Sera, a strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, told Bloomberg News. The euro was created based on this great dream of a unified Europe, and if they withdraw from the euro then the whole system is going to come into question. The dollar weakened to 122.52 yen from 123.05 yen on Friday. A series of high-level meetings were hastily arranged across the continent, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande calling a European summit for Tuesday. German and French finance ministers were set for talks in Warsaw Monday, while the Euro Working Group of top treasury officials will meet in Brussels. And the ECB will consider a financial lifeline for Greek lenders, which have been closed under capital controls since last weekend.