Asia stocks edge higher; Greece, U.S. fiscal cliff concerns cap gains

Investing.com - Asian stock markets edged higher on Wednesday, but gains were capped amid growing uncertainty surrounding Greece’s bailout plan and mounting fears over the looming fiscal crisis in the U.S.

Investors also eyed the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party Congress later in the day, where a once-in-a-decade leadership change is to take place.

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index settled 0.2% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index ended little changed.

Concerns over Greece’s fiscal woes remained after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers earlier in the week ended without any final decision on whether to release an urgently needed EUR31.5 billion bailout installment for the debt-strapped country.

The decision instead has been postponed until November 20th, as the International Monetary Fund and European officials were unable to reach an agreement on how best to reduce Greece’s debt to manageable levels.

Investors also remained concerned over the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.

There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise before then.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei ended little changed, halting a seven-day losing streak, as shares in troubled electronics firm Sharp rallied 7.2% after Kyodo News reported U.S. tech giant Intel may invest up to JPY40 billion in the debt-strapped company.

Shares in Renesas Electronics rallied 4.7% after U.S. technology bellwether Cisco Systems reported better-than-expected earnings results after the close of U.S. trade Tuesday.

On the downside, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost 1.4%, Mizuho Financial Group declined 0.8% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shed 0.7%, as all three lenders were due to report earnings after the closing bell.

Meanwhile, shares in Hong Kong advanced on the back of strong gains in lenders and raw material producers.

China Construction Bank saw shares climb 2.3%, Bank of China added 2.2%, while China’s largest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China jumped 2.6%.

Commodity makers also contributed to gains, with Aluminum Corporation of China , or CHALCO, trading up 3.1%, Jiangxi Copper adding 0.7% and PetroChina rising 1.3%.  

Elsewhere, shares in Australia came off a seven-week low as gains in the “Big Four” banks supported the market.

The nation’s top four lenders all advanced, with Australia's number 1 lender, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia adding 0.65%.

ANZ Banking Group rose 0.6%, while National Australia Bank and Westpac Banking Group tacked 0.55% and 0.25% respectively.

Looking ahead, European stock market futures pointed to a lower open, as ongoing uncertainty over a delayed bailout payment for Greece and concerns over the economic outlook for the euro zone weighed.

The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a loss of 0.3% at the open, France’s CAC 40 futures shed 0.35%, London’s FTSE 100 futures dipped 0.4%, while Germany's DAX futures pointed to a drop of 0.3%.

Later in the day, Italy was to hold a closely-watched three-year bond auction, while the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation.