SHANGHAI: Asian stock markets mostly advanced on Tuesday, recovering from the previous day’s heavy selloff, as Greece inched nearer toward a debt default.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 percent to 20,189.02 after dropping to its lowest point for the year Monday. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.2 percent to 2,065.34.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.2 percent to 26,280.22. China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.6 percent at 4,052.47 while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 5,423.70.
In currency trading, the euro dropped to $1.1189 from $1.1216 in the previous global trading session. The dollar fell to 122.40 yen from 122.62 yen.
India’s shares are expected to scale new highs, overcoming the recent sell-off by foreign investors who feared poor monsoon rains would hurt the farm sector and send inflation spiking, prompting the central bank to raise rates.
As for Shanghai, the biggest outlier on world stock markets this year, analysts say recent volatility will not last. The consensus predicts the index will rally to 5,325 by the end of 2015, up 27 percent from Friday’s close of 4,193.638.
The People’s Bank of China has now cut benchmark interest rates four times since November, on top of reductions in banks’ reserve requirements and measures to shore up the ailing property market.
