Eurozone: Investors cautious despite Greece deal

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The euro and shares pulled back on Friday as investors kept a cautious view over Greece's debt restructuring prospect, after Athens struck a long-awaited deal on fiscal reforms, paving the way for securing a crucial financial aid.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 per cent, slipping from a six-month high hit the day before, which lifted the index up nearly 14 per cent this year.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.2 per cent after opening marginally higher Hong Kong shares fell 0.3 per cent, facing a tough resistance at 21,000.

The euro was off a two-month high of $1.3322 reached on Thursday, trading at $1.3276 on Friday.

"There is a bit of a sense of achievement over the Greece issue and given that the market has been risk-positive, it may be time for some correction to set in," said Hiroshi Maeba, managing director of foreign exchange trading at Nomura Securities in Tokyo.

"While the risk of an imminent default by Greece has receded, it's not the end of the story. There is still risk of cases similar to Greece emerging in the euro zone," he said.

The euro had likely seen its top for now, but because the market remained short of the single currency, its downside was also limited, Maeba said.

Industrial commodities, such as oil and copper, retreated from Thursday's rally made on the news of a Greek deal, while gold steadied, as a firmer dollar was offset by support from accommodative monetary conditions worldwide.

The Australian dollar, while down 0.3 per cent on the day at $1.0748, hovered near a six-month high touched this week and was expected to benefit as an investment destination given the country's relatively high yields.

Greek political leaders clinched a deal on severe austerity measures and reforms indispensable for a second international bailout in two years, but the country's global lenders demanded more steps and a parliamentary seal of approval before providing any aid.

The agreement, after weeks of wrangling over the terms of the 130 billion euro bailout, removed the imminent risk of a hard default by Greece, which faces a major bond redemption on March 20.

Chinese trade data for January is due later in the session, providing more clues over the state of the world's second-largest economy.

U.S. crude oil fell 0.4 per cent to $99.49 a barrel, after gaining $1.13 on Thursday. Brent crude also shed 0.4 percent from Thursday's settlement at $118.59 a barrel, the highest close since July 22.

"Technically, Brent is over-stretched, and the current level is starting to have a significant negative effect on global economic growth," said James Zhang at Standard Bank in a note.

"Therefore, caution will be required when the current apparent wave of investment influx ends, probably as early as the beginning of next week."

London copper dropped nearly 1 percent to $8,676 a tonne, retreating from levels not seen in nearly five-months reached on Thursday.

SCEPTISICM AFTER DEAL
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said a debt swap deal between Greece and its private bond holders was practically finalised.

But finance ministers of the 17-nation euro zone arriving for talks in Brussels raised pressure on Greece to convince global lenders of its commitment to deliver, warning there would be no immediate green light for the rescue package.

Barclays Capital said in a note that a subdued reaction in the forex market suggested much of the good news was already priced in, leaving the euro capped.

"The political brinksmanship up till the last minute-agreement once again revealed the degree of challenges the Greek government will face in its implementation," it said.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates at a record low 1.0 percent on Thursday as widely expected.

ECB president Mario Draghi was non-committal on whether the bank would participate in Greece's debt restructuring, although he indicated that the bank could pass profits from its Greek bond holdings to euro zone countries.

Asian credit markets were also subdued early on Friday, with the spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index barely changed from Thursday.

The news on the Greek deal spurred a rally in Italian, Spanish and Belgian bonds on Thursday, pushing 10-year Italian yields down to four-month lows around 5.48 per cent.