Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region traded lower Monday following an emphatic “no” vote in Sunday's Greek referendum on accepting the austerity plans on offer as the price of continued eurozone bailout financing.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange composite index proved the exception, opening up more than 5% amid a raft of measures announced by China's regulators over the weekend aimed at halting that market's almost 30% plunge over the prior three weeks.
Even so, selling pressure quickly emerged to whittle away those early gains. Shanghai's index dipped into negative territory at one point in the afternoon, before rebounding in late trading to close up 2.41% at 3,775.91.
The country's other big A-shares market in Shenzhen, made up of smaller companies less susceptible to support via purchases of exchange-traded funds, ended down 2.7% at 2,041.85.
Asia's bigger markets traded down between 1% and 2% for much of the day, with Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index closing off 2.1% and Australia's ASX index down just more than 1.1%.
Meanwhile, as the Shanghai index struggled to hold on to its gains in the afternoon, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sank as well, closing down 3.18%.
Robert Rountree, Singapore-based global strategist with Eastspring Investments, called the declines in Asia following the Greek vote a “retreat to first base” to see what happens next. With relatively attractive valuations for equity markets in Asia, any sell-downs could be brief, Mr. Rountree said.
The Shanghai composite was initially boosted by announcements over the weekend aimed at bolstering market sentiment, including the launch of a fund by 21 Chinese brokers to support market prices, a freeze on initial public offerings and a pledge by China's central bank to provide liquidity to shore up the market.
