Chinese stocks led Asian shares higher, while the euro declined with industrial metals after European leaders gave Greece three days to enact reforms or face ejection from the currency union. Oil fell as Iran and world powers closed in on a nuclear deal.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.1% in Tokyo, and a gauge of mainland companies in Hong Kong climbed 1.3%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.2%. The euro dropped 0.3% to $1.1132, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures pared losses to 0.2%. Nickel declined 2.2%, while US crude slipped 1.6%, Bloomberg reported.
The Asia-Pacific stock gauge is climbing for a third day after falling to an almost six-month low on Wednesday. Japan’s Topix index advanced 1.8% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite climbed as the number of companies halted from trading, dropped by more than 400 on Monday. As many as half of all listed shares were suspended during the rout that wiped more than $3 trillion of value from the country’s equity market.
Metals, Currency
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 0.3% and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index erased a decline of as much as 1.1%. Price swings on the gauge of mainland companies reached the highest since 2012 last week.
The euro slipped 0.3% to 136.52 yen after soaring 2.3% on Friday. The currency pared a retreat of as much as 0.7% versus the greenback Monday. Hedge funds and other large speculators left bets on euro declines virtually unchanged for a second week, according to the latest data available from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The yen rose 0.2% to 122.58 per dollar. Yields on 10-year US Treasuries slipped two basis points to 2.38% after jumping eight basis points on Friday amid optimism over a Greek deal. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of credit default swaps rose two basis points to 110.5 basis points, according to prices from Westpac Banking Corp.
Canada’s currency slumped 0.3% as a Bloomberg gauge of commodities retreated 0.6%. Copper lost 1.3% to $5,518 a dry metric ton in London, while nickel extended last week’s 6.2% tumble. Nickel traded at $11,005 a ton, taking this year’s loss beyond 27%. Price volatility in iron ore, Australia’s biggest export, climbed to a record last week amid the gyrations in Chinese equities.
West Texas Intermediate crude slipped to $51.85 a barrel, while Brent dropped 2.1% to $57.53.
