Asian Summary; Europe Reaches Greek Deal

ASIAN SUMMARY: Regional markets were mostly lower after their recent rally, though Sydney rose to a six-day high and the euro and regional currencies climbed on news that Greece bailout negotiations have reached a conclusion; the S&P/ASX climbs 0.8%, the Nikkei falls 0.2%, the HSI is down 0.1%, the Kospi falls 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite and the STI are both flat. In FX markets, the EUR rose against the USD and JPY as the unusual timing of news of the fresh Greek bailout deal caught investors slightly off guard. It was just before 0300 GMT when euro-zone officials said they agreed on a second rescue package totalling EUR130 billion and Athen's private-sector creditors accepted voluntary writing down more than 53% of the face value on the bonds they hold. The EUR/USD is at 1.3269 after rising as high as 1.3293 vs 1.3240 late Monday in New York, the EUR/JPY is at 105.78 from 105.54, and the USD/JPY is at 79.71 from 79.64. China's central bank suspended its routine open market operation, in a move apparently aimed at helping ease the liquidity squeeze in the banking system; the PBOC usually carries out open market operations Tuesdays and Thursdays, offering bills and repos to control liquidity in the money market. Japan's finance minister played down the prospect of Group of 20 finance chiefs agreeing at a planned meeting in Mexico City this weekend to provide more funds to the International Monetary Fund to help it deal with the euro-zone debt crisis. Spot gold is at $1,736.20, up $2.10 from the NY close. March Nymex crude oil futures are up $1.54 at $105.21/bbl.