Financials also bounced after losses earlier in the week, with Nomura Holdings rising 4.7% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising 2.7% in Tokyo, Commonwealth Bank of Australia gaining 0.8% and Chinatrust Financial Holding climbing 2.4% in Taipei.

WSJ: Greek Hopes Help Asia Markets

Third, the financial industry, and the major investment houses, in particular, are facing reputation issues that take time to repair, especially in the face new issues like the LIBOR scandal just take a look at Nomura Holdings (NYSE:NMR) and Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MTU), which trade at a fraction of their 1989 all time highs.

FORBES: 1 Tempting Contrarian Trade