Asian stocks mixed on Greece

Asian stock markets were mixed today (May 12th) as Greece and its European creditors struggle to reach an agreement on bailout terms.

Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis revealed at a meeting yesterday in Brussels to discuss the final €7.2 billion (£5.2 billion) tranche of Greece's €240 billion EU/IMF bailout that his country's financial situation is "terribly urgent" and the crisis could come to a head in a couple of weeks.

"A failure to resolve the Greek funding crisis is adding to the pressure on local shares," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, said in a commentary seen by AP. "While the rest of the world is now largely economically insulated from Greece, risks remain."

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks soared, boosted by an interest rate cut by the central bank over the weekend to revive the sluggish economy – the third one in six months. The move came after the release of worse-than-expected trade data.

Japan's Nikkei 225 remained flat at 19,624.84, along with South Korea's Kospi at 2,096.77. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged down 0.5 per cent to 27,574.84. Australia's S&P/ ASX 200 gained 0.9 per cent to 5,674.70 and China's Shanghai Composite index rose 1.1 per cent to 4,382.01.

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