Asia stocks fall on Greece concerns; Nikkei down 0.89%

Investing.com - Asian stocks fell on Wednesday on fears that Greece isn't out of danger of defaulting, while slower growth expectations out of China and disappointing Australian growth figures sparked a sell-off in equities markets.

During Asian trading on Wednesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.83%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 0.85%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was down 0.89%.

Private investors are set to forgive Greece 53.5% of their principal and swap their remaining holdings for new Greek bonds and notes from the European Financial Stability Facility.

Greece needs to wrap up restructuring its debts with private creditors as a requirement for Athens to tap a EUR130 billion bailout fund and avoid a messy default, which would send shockwaves to financial systems worldwide.

However, with the deadline a day way, only about 20% of private creditors themselves appeared ready to restructure, according to reports, which spooked markets worldwide.

China's recent announcement that it set a target for 7.5% economic growth for 2012 sent share prices falling for a third day on Tuesday, as fears escalated the global economy might not be as strong as once hoped.

For several years, China has kept an 8.0% growth target.

Meanwhile Australia’s gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the fourth quarter, far below expectations for a 0.7% gain.

In Hong Kong, the top decliners included China Life, down 5.06%, New World Development, down 2.37%, and CNOOC, down 2.24%.

In Australia, the top decliners included Kagara Zinc, down 38.71%, NRW Holdings, down 6.07%, and Perseus Mining, down 4.49%.

European stock futures indicated a higher opening.

France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.43%, while Germany ’s DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.27%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.38%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.27% while the S&P 500 futures were also up 0.27%.

Later Wednesday in the U.S., the ADP non-farm payrolls will hit the wire, which serves as a precursor to official government jobs data due out Friday.

The country is also to release revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs, which are important inflationary indicators, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.

Japan is set to release gross domestic product figures.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is to announce its benchmark interest rate and hold a press conference to discuss monetary policy.

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