Asia: Stocks higher on Greek debt deal and positive Chinese exports data

Most Asian stocks were higher thanks to a host of measures launched by Chinese authorities last week to stall the sell-off in the country's stockmarkets and following news that Monday's Euro-summit had reached an agreement on a bail-out for Greece.

The Shanghai composite index rose 2.38% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.3%, helped by reports the government may unveil a ¥200bn loan to support infrastructure projects and increased margin-supported trading.

In economic data, exports jumped to the positive side in June, rising by 2.8% over the month after a decline of 2.8% a month earlier. Imports continued to contract but at a slower pace at -6.1%, beating expectations of -15% and an improvement from -18.1% in May.

Even so, the trade surplus shrank to $46.5bn in June from $59.5bn, according to the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China.

Chinese regulators said they have found evidence of market manipulation on the equity futures markets during the wave of short-selling that swept over stockmarkets over the last few weeks. China has pledged to punish anyone found to have contributed to the drop in equity’s, said TradeNext analysts.

Elsewhere in Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.57% thanks to a weaker yen at ¥123.46 against the dollar.

Industrial production data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed a drop of -2.1% in May, which was in line with forecasts. Year-on-year, production was at -3.9% from -4.0% one month earlier.

However, Japan's tertiary industry index contracted further by 0.7% month-on-month (consensus: -0.3%) from -0.2% in April, according to METI.

In corporate news, Nintendo gained 1.5% despite news its chief executive Satoru Iwata died of cancer.

Sony was also up 3.11% following reports its Xperia T4 Ultra is expected to be launched next month.

On the down side, Australia's ASX fell 0.34% dragged by energy and banking stocks.

Shares in Commonwealth Bank fell 0.77% and those in Westpac Banking another 0.42% after the Australian Federal Government's Financial System Inquiry said the country's biggest banks may need to raise an additional $30bn to meet the capital levels demands