Asian shares stifled by Greek drama

Asia share markets made guarded gains on Friday and the dollar held firm in the wake of reassuringly upbeat US retail data, though the mood was cautious as Greek debt talks took yet another confusing turn. Activity was sparse with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.3 per cent, but only just above three-month lows. Japan's Nikkei .N225 barely budged, though it found some support in a dollar bounce against the yen. Shanghai shares .SSEC started higher but soon went flat. Australian shares barely moved on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 index slipped 0.14 per cent, or 7.75 points, to 5,548.9 by 0303 GMT. New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.1 per cent to 5849.37. In commodity markets, oil prices dipped. Brent crude oil for July LCOc1 fell 21 cents to $64.90 a barrel, while US crude CLc1 lost 25 cents to $60.52, according to Reuters.