May 10, 2002	Friday	Safar 26, 1423

TOKYO, May 9: Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday despite a strong rally in the US with profit-taking emerging in late trading on most bourses in the region.

Tokyo stocks rose one percent, led by sharp gains in hi-techs after Wall Street pulled off its best performance this year and with exporters benefiting from a stall in recent dollar weakness, brokers said.

The Nikkei-225 average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed up 112.55 points at 11,633.30 while the Topix index of all first section issues rose 9.15 points to 1,090.91.

The Nikkei was up 200 points or something earlier but it slowed down. It was already up 200 yesterday so it’s a very reasonable gain, Miwa said.

It will move around this level for the time being, he said.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices fell 0.6 per cent, reversing early gains as profit-taking emerged with the Hang Seng index approaching the 12,000-point resistance level.

The key index lost 67.55 points to close at 11,700.76, with dealers saying property counters led the decline on stretched valuations.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed little changed, with losses in banks in afternoon trade wiping out the initial gains triggered by Wall Street’s rally.

The SP/ASX 200 index closed down 1.4 points at 3,338.5 while the All Ordinaries index was down 1.9 points at 3,285.5.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.1 per cent lower, ignoring Wall Street’s strong surge.

The Straits Times Index fell 1.82 points to 1,733.61 while the All-Singapore Equities index dropped 1.48 points to 455.93.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed marginally higher after earlier gains gave way to profit-taking and a lack of strong leads.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index rose 0.19 points to finish at 794.66.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed 0.8 percent higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with purchases in state-owned stocks offsetting profit-taking in blue chip technology counters.

The 30-share BSE sensitive index rose 26.95 points to close at 3,462.01.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand investors failed to take advantage of confidence from booming offshore markets.

The NZSE-40 index was down 8.24 points or 0.4 per cent to 2,041.98.

Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs said the volume was the biggest in about a month, despite the local market’s failure to fire.

We had the initial burst, but really no follow up with order-flow, Scott said.—AFP