Asia: Fears over Greece and Chinese loans drag Asian markets down

Hong Kong - Asian markets have been hit by losses, spurred on by fears over the fate of Greece and the euro zone. At midday the stock market index in Hong Kong fell by 2.7%, reaching the lowest point in the last four months. Tokyo is also negative (-0.8%); Shanghai -0.4; Seoul - 1.3%.

Analysts point the finger to Greece, where yesterday political leaders have failed to form a new government, giving way for new elections in June. The fear is that the next election will be won by a government opposed to the drastic austerity measures imposed on the country, affecting aid for the rehabilitation of the sovereign debt. Without this aid Greece would be forced to declare bankruptcy and leave the euro zone.

Yesterday, news of the failure to form a government in Athens unleashed a wave of negativity on all European markets and Wall Street.

The negative results are also due to the news coming from China, yesterday the official media reported that the four domestic banks registered no increase in lending in the last two weeks, raising fears of a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy.

Some banks among the strongest in China, such as China Construction Bank lost 2.2% in Hong Kong and 1.3 in Shanghai, the China Citic Bank was down 6% in Hong Kong and PetroChina lost for 3.2 and 0.7 in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Even gambling is in crisis, Galaxy Entertainment has lost 3.6% and Wynn Macau, 4.8.