Greece most advanced nation to default on IMF Loan ever

 This article deals with both Greece and China's economies.

1. China Stocks Shrug Off Easier Trading Rules:rest of Asia Up News

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     China stocks shrug off easier trading rules; rest of Asia up

     CNBC via Yahoo! Finance48 minutes agoAsian stocks tracked their U.S. peers higher on Thursday, but lingering uncertainty over Greece's debt situation may cap gains.
     Greece most advanced nation to default on IMF Loan ever 
     
     Thu, Jul 2, 2015, 1:29AM EDT - US Markets open in 8 hrs and 1 min
     
     
     China stocks shrug off easier trading rules; rest of Asia up

      

     By See Kit Tang 49 minutes ago

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     Asian stocks outside the mainland advanced on Thursday, tracking the strong finish on Wall Street overnight, but lingering uncertainty over Greece's debt situation capped gains.

     Less than 24 hours after he wrote a conciliatory letter to creditors asking for a new bailout, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras delivered a combative speech on local television, urging Greeks to vote "no" at the referendum on July 5.

     The remarks come a day after the cash-strapped nation became the first advanced economy to default on debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

     Overnight, U.S. stocks handed over an impressive lead, with the help of better-than-expected economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 gained 0.79 and 0.69 percent, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 0.53 percent.

     Mainland indices downbeat
     

     China's Shanghai Composite index retreated 1.2 percent by the end of the morning session, with news of easier margin rules doing little to lift trading sentiment.

     On Wednesday, China's securities regulator relaxed rules on using borrowed money to make stock purchases after the Shanghai bourse ended another erratic trading session more than 5 percent lower.
     

     The move comes on the back of a bigger-than-expected easing package over the weekend, where the People's Bank of China (PBOC) cut the benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points, and reduced the RRR by 50 basis points, after panic selling over the past two weeks erased more than 20 percent from the benchmark index.

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     "[It] seems very much that they are desperate," Michael Kurtz, global head of equity strategy at Nomura, told CNBC. "[The fact that] markets sold down further after the weekend rate cuts was a wake-up call to the leadership that they need to do something more forceful and unambiguous to signal that it's 'ok' to get back into the market."
     In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: .HSI) index moved up 0.6 percent on its return from a public holiday.
     Gaming plays were on a tear, with Sands China (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 1928-HK) and Galaxy Entertainment (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 27-HK) soaring more than 10 percent each, on the back of news that the Macau government will relax visa rules for mainland tourists.
     Nikkei jumps 1.1%
     Japan's Nikkei 225 leaped to a near one-week high, with exporters and insurers leading the charge in the broad-based rally.
     Nissan (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7201.T-JP) and Honda Motor (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 7267.T-JP) soared more than 2 percent each following a strong showing in U.S. sales for the month of June. Meanwhile, T&D Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Insurance (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8750.T-JP) tacked on 3 percent each.
     Troubled electronics maker Sharp (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6753.T-JP) surged nearly 6 percent after Standard & Poor's decision to remove its selective-default designation, sparked by a de facto debt-for-equity swap, putting its long-term corporate credit rating at B-.
     
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     Hiroshi Watanabe | Taxi Japan | Getty Images. Asian stocks tracked their U.S. peers higher on Thursd …
     Takara Printing charged as much as 7.9 percent after setting its dividend ratio at 88.8 percent for the year ending May 2016.
     Index heavyweight Fast Retailing (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 9983.T-JP) contributed a significant upward push for the bourse with a surge of nearly 3 percent.
     ASX rises 1.5%
     Australia's S&P ASX 200 index doubled gains at midday as sentiment improved in the key resources sector.
     
     Early-trade laggards including Woodside Petroleum (ASX:WPL-AU) and Santos (ASX:STO-AU) rebounded 1.6 and 2.2 percent, respectively, while Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM-AU) inched up 0.6 percent.
     Among gainers, QBE Insurance advanced 2.2 percent, while Westpac (ASX:WBC-AU) and National Australia Bank bumped up nearly 2 percent each. Challenger (ASX:CGF-AU) climbed 2.8 percent after announcing that it sold its 25 percent stake in Kapstream Capital to Janus Capital Group (JNS) for approximately $34.36 million.
     Underperforming the market, Kathmandu sagged 0.4 percent after the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer urged its shareholders to take no action on the takeover proposal from New Zealand retailer Briscoe Group.
     Meanwhile, the Australian dollar (Exchange:USDAUD=) pulled back modestly after May trade data came in worse than expected. The Aussie currency was last quoted at $0.7636 to the dollar, compared with $0.7643 at the open, after Australia's trade deficit came in at 2.75 billion Australian dollars. Reuters had expected a deficit of 2.2 billion Australian dollars.
     Kospi adds 0.5%
     South Korea's Kospi index edged up to a one-month high.
     
     A South Korean court on Wednesday denied a request from U.S. activist fund Elliott to block a shareholder vote on a proposed $8 billion merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Shares of the two Samsung Group companies elevated 1.7 and 0.6 percent, respectively.
     Samsung Heavy Industries reversed course to dip 0.3 percent, a day after jumping 13.2 percent on the back of news that the company won a 5.3 trillion won order from Shell Gas & Power Developments to build three FLNG facilities in Europe.
     Hyundai Motor (Korea Stock Exchange: 538-KR) - the bourse's second heaviest-weighted stock - eased 1.1 percent on the back of news that the automaker's global sales fell for a third straight month in June. 
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     China stocks shrug off easier trading rules; rest of Asia up