Relief rally runs out of steam as Asia slips

Yesterday's relief rally prompted by the Greek election on Sunday failed to translate to Asian markets overnight, as concerns over Spain's economy dominated trading.

The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 0.75% to 8,655 and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index dropped 0.37% to 19,355. Shares fell overnight as initial relief over the Greek election result quickly gave way to renewed fears the eurozone crisis is spreading to Spain and other major eurozone countries. A narrow victory for Greek conservatives, who favour upholding an austerity programme and remaining within the single currency, initially relaxed fears of a disorderly exit from the euro. But attention quickly focused back on Spain as yields on Spanish governmen...