Asian markets slip on Greece bailout fears

Asian markets are down as traders grow nervous over Greece's chances of avoiding a default.

Tokyo ended 0.61 per cent, or 55.07 points, off at 8,947.17 on Friday and Seoul finished 1.04 per cent lower, or 20.91 points, at 1,993.71.

In the afternoon Hong Kong shed 1.08 per cent, or 226.15 points, to 20,783.86 while Shanghai ended up 0.10 per cent, or 2.39 points, at 2,351.98. Sydney closed down 0.88 per cent, or 37.6 points, at 4,245.3.

Despite Greek politicians agreeing after lengthy talks on a tough set of cuts demanded by international lenders, Brussels told Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos that more needed to be done to qualify for the 130 billion euros ($A160 billion) bailout.

Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference: "Despite the important progress achieved over the last days we did not have yet all necessary elements on the table to take decisions today."

The finance chiefs urged the Greek parliament to approve the austerity measures agreed by the political parties when it convenes on Sunday.

They also called for additional structural spending cuts of 325 million euros for 2012 and a written pledge from coalition leaders that they will implement austerity measures.

Failure to agree on the measures and qualify for the cash could see Athens default on its debt repayments, which many fear could see it leave the eurozone and lead to another global financial catastrophe.

Greece is, however, close to finalising a debt writedown with its private lenders, hoping to slash 100 billion euros from its 350-billion-euro debt mountain. EU economic affairs head Olli Rehn said the writedown was near.

"We've had a nice run up in risk assets this year, but we've got a lot of event risk this weekend, so investors aren't prepared to commit any more money to equities at this point," said Sydney-based IG Markets institutional dealer Chris Weston.

"The fact that Greece has agreed on fresh austerity measures is positive, but European officials appear sceptical, and we need to see Greek lawmakers vote through the austerity measures this weekend," he said.

Markets reacted little after China said its January trade activity fell to its lowest level since 2009 during the global financial crisis, amid turmoil in the country's key export markets and slowing domestic demand.

Analysts said the data - exports fell 0.5 per cent year-on-year to $149.94 billion while imports plunged 15.3 per cent to $122.66 billion - was distorted by the earlier-than-usual Lunar New Year holiday last month.

"The trade data is not affecting the market much because investors know it was distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday," Minsheng Securities analyst Zhang Lei told Dow Jones Newswires.

European stock markets slid in early trade on Friday with London's FTSE 100 losing 0.55 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 off 0.86 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 shedding 0.97 per cent.

On currency markets, the euro stood at $1.3256 and 103.04 yen, from $1.3286 and 103.20 yen.

The dollar bought 77.71 yen, up from 77.68 yen.

Adding to the downbeat sentiment in Sydney was news that mining giant Rio Tinto's annual net profit tumbled 59 per cent, which came a day after rival BHP Billiton also saw underwhelming earnings for the year.

In other markets:

Taipei fell 0.61 per cent, or 48.51 points, to 7,862.27. Kuala Lumpur closed down 0.23 per cent, or 3.66 points, at 1,561.66. Singapore shares lost 0.71 per cent, or 21.17 points, to 2,960.00. Indian shares fell 0.46 per cent, or 82.06 points, to 17,748.69. Manila closed 0.29 per cent higher, or 13.90 points, to 4,783.52.

Indonesian shares ended 1.7 per cent, or 66.59 points, lower at 3,912.39. Bangkok dropped 0.38 per cent, or 4.26 points, to 1,112.91. Wellington gained 0.64 per cent, or 21.40 points, to 3,348.13.

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