Asian shares rise as investors shrug off Greek default
The country failed to make a debt repayment to the IMF due yesterday.
Asian shares rose today (July 1st) as investors focused on Greece after the country failed to make a debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due yesterday.
The IMF's communications director, Gerry Rice, said in a statement that "Greece is now in arrears and can only receive IMF financing once the arrears are cleared".
While investors worried about the repercussions on the global economy if Greece was to eventually drop out of the euro currency, they mostly shrugged of the country's default.
"International markets appear to have found a level where they are happy to sit and wait on the next developments in the Greek debt crisis. Greece's failure to meet the deadline on its IMF payment looks to have been fully anticipated by markets. Barring unknowns, the next critical event for markets will be the outcome of Sunday's referendum," Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said in a commentary seen by AP.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.5 per cent to 20,329.32, South Korea's Kospi rose 1.1 per cent to 2,097.89 and Australia's S&P ASX/200 gained one per cent to 5,515.70. The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 5.2 per cent to 4,053.70 in a choppy session. Hong Kong's market was closed for a holiday.
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