Asia: Stocks rise following Greek bailout agreement

Asian stocks were higher on Wednesday following reports that Greece will go ahead with a request for a bailout extension as the nation nears its expiry of its current €240bn aid agreement at the end of the month.

Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, said: “This move resembles the sorely needed compromise that has been lacking for much of the past two weeks, and the Eurozone indices have taken this sentiment to heart, creeping into the green after the bell.”

Australia’s ASX rose 0.98% helped by good business sentiment data. The Conference Board leading indicator rose 0.4% in December from 0.1% the month before.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was also higher 0.19% following reports that China is looking into different merger combinations of its largest state oil companies in order to cut internecine inefficiencies and create "our own Exxon Mobil".

Chinese markets were closed for a week of the Lunar New Year holidays.

Mike van Dulken from Accendo Markets said: “Thin liquidity is expected for the next two weeks while the Chinese market, one of the most important demand centres for the yellow metal, is out for Lunar New Year holidays.”

You may also enjoy reading: China plans to merge largest oil companies

Japanese Nikkei 225 was up 1.18%, the highest level since July 2007. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) held a monetary policy meeting on Wednesday where it said the country is in a “moderate recovery trend”. However, it did not make any changes to its ultra-loose monetary policy.

Rabobank analysts noted that the BoJ “has removed its reference to last year’s sales tax hike from its economic assessment, after noting that the impact of this tax increase was slowly fading in earlier statements.

“This change in wording suggests that the central bank now no longer sees a negative impact from this tax hike on economic developments in Japan.”

Among companies, Noble Group gained in Singapore after denying a research report that questioned its accounting practices.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. advanced in Hong Kong on reports that China is likely to merge state-owned oil producers.

Toll Holdings climbed after Japan Post Holdings Co. agreed to buy the Australian logistics business.