Asian stocks, euro pare losses after Greek talks

Asian stocks and the euro pared earlier losses after Greek leaders said they are nearing a full agreement on a rescue plan. Oil rose as much as 0.4 per cent after US stockpiles climbed less than forecast.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded little changed near the highest level in six months at 2:38pm in Tokyo, after earlier dropping as much as 1 per cent. The euro reversed losses to climb 0.1 per cent to $1.3275. Crude for March delivery traded at $99.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and three party leaders “agreed on all the points of the program with the exception of one which requires further elaboration and discussion” with the so-called troika of lenders, according to a statement from the premier’s office. Chinese consumer prices rose 4.5 per cent in January from a year earlier, exceeding all 33 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

Greece faces a €14.5 billion bond payment on March 20 and is struggling to secure financing to avert a collapse of the economy that could spark a new round of contagion in the euro area. The leaders have effectively agreed on all the issues except for that of cuts to pensions, Panos Beglitis, a spokesman for the Pasok socialist party, told reporters.

Global stocks entered a bull market yesterday as the MSCI All-Country World Index extended its gain from its October low to 20 per cent. Rio Tinto Ltd, Acer Inc and Tata Steel Ltd are among Asian companies scheduled to report earnings today. Profits beat projections at 25 per cent of the 316 companies in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that released quarterly results since January 9, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.