Asia investors look beyond Grexit for stimulus benefits

Singapore

FOR many Asia-Pacific investors, the question is how many days - rather than weeks - Greece's financial meltdown will hurt the region's markets. After that, some see benefits.

While the yield premium that investors demand to hold Asian corporate bonds will probably rise in the aftermath of a Greek default, any movement may be short-lived because the exposure of companies in the region to Mediterranean countries is limited. The average spread on US dollar notes in Asia ranged from 261 to 251 basis points this month and was last at 255 last Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co indexes show. The euro rose as markets opened on Monday in Asia, extending a three-week gain.

"There will probably be a knee-jerk reaction," said Owen Gallimore, a senior Asia credit analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Singapore. "But the European Central Bank is likely to move fast to stabilise markets, and those headlines should help Asian credi…