Asian markets mostly up on Greece hopes

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose Monday after Greece gave creditors new proposals on reforming its bailout, fuelling hopes of averting a default and possible exit from the Eurozone.
The euro also advanced after Brussels said it had received the plans a day before a emergency European summit Monday, with the office of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calling it a “mutually beneficial deal”.
Tokyo rallied 1.26 percent, or 253.95 points, to 20,428.19 and Seoul gained 0.40 percent, or 8.20 points to 2,055.16, while Sydney reversed early losses to add 0.24 percent, or 13.20 points, to 5,610.20.
In late trade Hong Kong was 0.65 percent higher.Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.While it is not clear what concessions have been offered, Martin Selmayr, the head of the cabinet of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said the Athens proposal offered “a good basis for progress”.
However, he underscored the tumult surrounding the deal by describing the negotiations as a “forceps delivery”.The plans were submitted after Tsipras held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Juncker.
Analysts said the move was cheered in Asian trading rooms. “Originally there wasn´t going to be one, so the fact that there´s a new proposal on the table appears to be seen favourably,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
The euro strengthened, buying $1.1393 and 139.95 yen in the afternoon compared with $1.1349 and 139.23 yen in New York late Friday. The dollar was at 122.83 yen against 122.69 yen in US trade.
The heads of the 19 Eurozone countries will hold an emergency summit in Brussels later Monday, under pressure to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt. If the two sides are unable to agree a deal, Greece will likely default on an IMF debt payment of around 1.5 billion euros due on June 30, leading to the possibility of it crashing out of the eurozone.