On the final trading day of this week, stocks in Asia dropped after investors remained uncertain about the Greece debt deal. The latest on the Greece debt deal is that finance ministers of Europe have asked Greece to further cut its spending before it clears a new bailout of $170 billion to the indebted nation. Greece doesn’t have much of an option since if it doesn’t abide by the demands of European finance ministers, it will declare a debt default which will threaten the global economy and not just Greece alone.
While benchmark oil oscillated around a value of below $99 a barrel, the dollar depreciated against the yen but appreciated against the euro.
Amongst the Asian stocks that fell included Nikkei 225 index of Japan, which dropped by 0.3 percent, to settle at a value of 8,978.33, while Hang Seng of Hong Kong dropped by 0.6 percent, to settle at a value of 20,888.68. Moreover, Kospi of South Korea also fell by 0.9 percent, as it settled at a value of 1,996.71. All of these were joined by S&P / ASX 200 of Australia, which dropped by 0.8 percent, settling at a value of 4,250.70.
On Thursday, the indebted Greek nation announced its deal with European debt inspectors to reduce costs and keep away from averting on its bond payments next month in March, which if it occurs will send the entire financial system powerful shock waves. However, European finance ministers have said that Greece hasn’t done too much or gone too far to satisfy their demands. They have also given the nation some additional days to drop $430 million in spending and get its new bailout rescue loan approval from the government. However, uncertainty is the right word to describe the situation in Greece and the European region right now.
