Shares fall in Asia with investors keyed in on Greece debt talk moves

Investing.com - Asian shares fell on Monday with investors keyed into the next moves possible in the Greece debt saga as talks came to a standstill at the weekend.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.23%, while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.60% and the Hang Seng index dropped 1.14% before the break.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.33%.

Greece and representatives from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank failed to reach agreement at a meeting at Brussels proposed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Greece was prepared to bridge the fiscal gap but creditors insisted on pension cuts and value-added-tax rises already rejected by the Greek government. There were also differences in calculation of the fiscal gap for 2016 and 2017, according to news reports.

"President Juncker made a last attempt this weekend to find via personal representatives and in close liaison with commission, ECB and IMF experts a solution with Prime Minister (Alexis) Tsipras that would allow for a positive assessment in time for the Eurogroup on Thursday June 18," a commission spokesman said.

"While some progress was made the talks did not succeed as there remains a significant gap between the plans of the Greek authorities and the joint requirements of the three institutions in order of 0.5%-to-1% of gross domestic product or the equivalent of up to E2 billion of permanent fiscal measures on an annual basis" the spokesman said.

"On this basis further discussions will now have to take place at the Eurogroup. President Juncker remains convinced that with stronger reform efforts on the Greek side and political will on all sides a solution can still be found at the end of the month," the spokesman said.

Last week,U.S. stocks fell broadly on Friday, amid a wavering dollar and mounting fears of a Greek default on its sovereign debt one day after the collapse of high-level talks with the IMF.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 100 points erasing most of the gains from Wednesday's session when soared it more than 1%.

The NASDAQ Composite index and the S&P Composite index also fell more than 0.5% on a bearish day for stocks. Bolstered by Wednesday's gains, the Dow had been on pace for one of its best weeks over the last several months until Friday's sell-off when it fell 140.53 or 0.78% to 17,898.84.

The NASDAQ also closed the week on a down note, dipping 31.41 or 0.62% to 5,051.10.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, lost 14.75 or 0.70% to 2,094.11, as all 10 sectors closed in the red.

In the week ahead, investors will also be looking ahead to Wednesday’s Fed rate statement for a clear signal on when it could start to raise interest rates. Monetary policy announcements in Japan and Switzerland will also be closely watched.

On Monday, Switzerland is to release data on producer prices and retail sales.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, in Brussels.

Canada is to publish a report on manufacturing sales.

The U.S. is to publish data on industrial production and manufacturing activity in the New York region.