Greek agreement fails to cheer Asian markets on Friday

The equity bourses in Asian are not showing any kind of enthusiasm and are trading on a sedate note on Friday’s trading session as the Greek agreement on new austerity cuts failed to cheer investors in the region. Barring the Chinese benchmark, which is trading with moderate gains, all other indices in Asia are trading on a weak note. Investors remain nervous as European finance ministers demanded more steps overnight along with Greek parliament’s approval before releasing the aid. Meanwhile, the third straight positive close on Wall Street on the back of encouraging US unemployment claims data, which showed a brighter labor market picture failed to prop up investors’ morale.

The benchmark in Indonesia got butchered in the session by over one and half a percent a day after the central bank there unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three months, taking advantage of easing inflation to support growth in a deteriorating global economy. On the flipside only Chinese equity index traded on a positive note with moderate gains led by property developers amid rising hopes of some policy easing of property restrictions in the country.

Hang Seng declined 121.33 points or 0.58% to 20,888.68, Jakarta Composite plummeted 70.55 points or 1.77% to 3,908.44, Nikkei 225 fell 33.81 points or 0.38% to 8,968.43, Straits Times eased 3.90 points or 0.13% to 2,977.27, Seoul Composite plunged 21.30 points or 1.06% to 1,993.32 and Taiwan Weighted slipped 26.35 points or 0.33% to 7,884.43.

On the other hand, only Shanghai Composite advanced 8.39 points or 0.36% to 2,357.98.