Most Asian stock markets reversed early gains to edge lower on Monday, after eurozone finance ministers postponed a final decision on disbursing 12 billion euros in immediate aid to debt-laden Greece.
Early Monday, eurozone finance ministers postponed a decision on extending a fresh loan package to Greece until July, mounting pressure on Greece to take up additional austerity measures such as spending cuts and rapid privatization amid strong public opposition.
Besides the uncertainty over Greek's fiscal woes, concerns about China's monetary policy in the short run and doubts on whether the second round of bond-buying program will come to an end in the U.S. at the end of this month also prompted investors to shun riskier assets.
Copper led base metals lower on concerns over global demand and amid a stronger U.S. dollar, while crude futures for July delivery fell over a percent to below $92 a barrel on mounting concerns over the outlook for fuel demand.
The Japanese market closed slightly higher, with the benchmark Nikkei rising marginally and the broader Topix index rising 0.2 percent amid gains in electricity and textile stocks. Utilities rose across the board, after industry minister Banri Kaieda called for restarting nuclear reactors currently suspended for checkups as their safety has been confirmed.
Shares of Tohoku Electric Power climbed 10 percent, Kansai Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power soared about 8 percent each, while Tepco jumped 4 percent. Electric Power Development rallied 7.3 percent on a brokerage upgrade. Olympus closed up 4.3 percent after the company said it expects its FY12 net profit to surge 140 percent to Y18 billion. Toyota Motor closed unchanged after unveiling plans to ramp up production in India.
A stubbornly weak euro dragged shares of automaker Honda Motor down a little over 2 percent. Sony extended its recent losses and fell to its lowest level since March 2009 before ending 2.7 percent lower.
In economic news, Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 853.7 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said today, staying in the red for the second straight month following the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11. That missed expectations for a shortfall of 710.1 billion yen following the revised 464.8 billion yen deficit in April.
China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.8 percent, extending losses for a fourth consecutive session, with export-dependent companies such as textile and garment makers leading the declines amid uncertainty in the global economic environment. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.4 percent, dragged down by property and resource stocks.
The seven-day bond repurchase agreement rate -- a gauge of interbank liquidity - rose to almost 7.65 percent on Monday, up sharply from Friday's 6.7 percent, after Beijing raised the banks' reserve requirement ratio by half a percent last week to tame inflation.
The latest increase came hours after government data showed China's consumer price index jumped to a 34-month high of 5.5 percent in May.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7 percent to a near 10-month low and the broader All Ordinaries index lost 0.9 percent, as investors remained on edge about the deepening Greek debt crisis ahead of the Greek parliamentary confidence vote tomorrow.
Big miner BHP Billiton fell 1.4 percent and rival Rio Tinto shed 0.7 percent. Banking stocks closed mostly lower, with Commonwealth falling marginally, Westpac dropping 0.4 percent and ANZ declining half a percent, while NAB edged up 0.3 percent. In the energy sector, Woodside Petroleum fell 2.2 percent, Santos lost 1.8 percent and Oil Search declined 1.4 percent.
South Korea's Kospi average closed 0.6 percent lower on foreign fund selling amid concerns over an impasse on a new aid package for Greek debt. Refiner S-Oil plunged 4.7 percent after global crude prices slumped to a fourth-month low below $93 a barrel. Samsung Electronics extended recent falls, losing 2.3 percent and LG Display dropped half a percent, but Hynix Semiconductor rose 2.2 percent. Hyundai Motor, the nation's biggest car maker, rose 0.9 percent on a Yonhap News Agency report that the company has sold more vehicles in Europe last month than any other Asian brand.
The New Zeland market ended little changed, with the benchmark NZX-50 easing slightly, amid concerns that Greece may not get a new bailout package soon enough. NZX, the securities market operator, tumbled 2.9 percent paring some of last week's gains after chairman Andrew Harmos called for "intellectual honesty" from opponents of the government's proposed mixed ownership model for state-owned enterprises. Retail stocks came under selling pressure, with Kathmandu Holdings falling 2.3 percent and Hallenstein Glasson Holdings ending down 1.4 percent.
Pyne Gould Corp. jumped 8.3 percent ahead of its exit from the benchmark index, while Heartland New Zealand, which is replacing the financial services firm in the index, ended down 1.4 percent. Skellerup Holdings, the rubber goods and milking products manufacturer, climbed 5.3 percent after data released by statistics New Zealand showed manufacturing volumes climbed 1.9 percent in the March quarter following a strong 3.7 percent gain in the previous quarter.
India's Sensex was last trading down about 2 percent on speculation that capital inflows may decline amid talk the government is reviewing a tax treaty with Mauritius. Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite was up 0.2 percent and Singapore's Straits Times was gaining 0.3 percent, while Malaysia's KLSE eased 0.3 percent and the Taiwan Weighted fell 1.2 percent.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.