20100611 1426 Regional News.

Asia stocks rise for 4th day, euro steady
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose for a fourth day on optimism that the world economic recovery was on track despite Europe's debt woes, while the euro was steady after a rally the previous day.
"Funds have started to lean towards risk-taking after all-out risk-reduction behaviour seen in mid- to late May, and domestic investors are following suit," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Mizuho Securities.

June 11 (Bloomberg)

European banking shares indicate a Greek debt default may be just a matter of time. Investors have already pushed down financial stocks enough to imply the “erosion” in book value that may result from losses tied to a sovereign debt restructuring, said Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in London. A Bloomberg index of European financial firms dropped as much as 22 percent since April 15 to the lowest level since July.

“If Greece defaulted in the near future, the ramifications wouldn’t just be banks holding Greek debt, but also Spain and Portugal and Italian bonds -- and how do you value Armageddon?” said Gary Jenkins, head of credit research at Evolution Securities Ltd. in London. “The idea is to postpone reality. If it had happened in a disorderly manner in May, it would’ve been such a quick event that it would have been very difficult for authorities to control the reactions on Portugal and Spain.” Some analysts say the recent declines among European banks represent a buying opportunity on the grounds that a Greek default would be manageable and that Spain and Italy won’t have to restructure their debt. Nomura’s Peace said in a June 2 note that European bank shares are “attractive.”