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HONG KONG, Aug 24: Asian stocks closed lower across most boards on Wednesday with higher oil prices shaking investor confidence ahead of the release of the weekly petroleum inventory report in the United States.
Dealers said fears that oil could once again approach the $70 a barrel mark were undermining confidence, and the report would be keenly watched for any signs that could cause another spike in the cost of crude.
Tokyo and Shanghai bucked the trend. Japan continues to benefit from its improved economic outlook while sentiment improved in China after the government broadened plans to divest its overhang of non-tradable stock.
TOKYO: Share prices shook off early losses to close up 0.24 per cent at a fresh four-year high as sentiment in the market remained positive.
Market sentiment remained bullish as a buying spree more than counteracted a slew of early profit-taking, said SBI Securities strategist Hideyuki Suzuki.
The Nikkei-225 index added 29.33 points to close at 12,502.26, with 1.69 billion shares changing hands.
In the banking sector, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial jumped 60,000 yen to 1,150,000 and UFJ surged 32,000 to 702,000. Automobile shares were higher, Honda gaining 110 yen to 5,850.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.67 per cent lower on continued profit-taking in blue chips and China stocks as oil prices weighed on sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 100.04 points at 14,873.85. Turnover was US$2.6 billion.
The property sub-index was down 231.96 points or 1.25 per cent at 18,306.19, with Sun Hung Kai down 0.85 at 78.30 and Henderson Land down 0.55 at 37.80.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.66 per cent lower as a growing number of companies reported reduced earnings and subdued outlooks.
The SP/ASX 200 index closed down 29.6 points at 4,455.3. A total of 1.63 billion shares worth 4.43 billion dollars (3.33 billion US dollars) were traded.
BHP Billiton lost 0.51 or 2.42 per cent to close at 20.56 dollars ahead of its full-year report. It later reported a full-year net profit of 6.5 billion US dollars, beating market forecasts.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed weaker for the second consecutive session as investors stayed sidelined in the absence of fresh leads.
Crude prices were above 66 dollars a barrel in Asian trading Wednesday amid robust demand and tight supplies.
The Straits Times Index fell 11.31 points or 0.49 per cent at 2,278.35. Volume totalled 754 million shares worth 739 million Singapore dollars (445 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.25 per cent higher due to foreign interest in selected blue chips but many investors were sidelined ahead of second quarter gross domestic product results.
The composite index was up 2.29 points to 926.08 on volume of 357.65 million shares, worth 657.11 million ringgit (174.32 million dollars).
Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.10 ringgit at 11.10, while Telekom Malaysia and Malayan Banking were flat at 11.10 and 11.30 respectively.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 2.87 per cent lower on panic selling across the board after the central bank raised interest rates and the rupiah slid past 10,300 to the dollar.
The composite index closed down 30.647 points at 1,035.445. Volume was 2.65 billion shares valued at 2.20 trillion rupiah (218.7 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices fell 0.33 per cent, tracking falls in the Australian market. The NZSX-50 index closed down 11.15 points at 3,376.26 on turnover worth 204.3 million dollars (141.9 million US).
Shares in Australian discounter Miller have this week gained strongly on speculation it is about to tie up with The Warehouse.
Goldman Sachs JBWere broker Joe Gallagher said the market would look favourably at The Warehouse offloading its Australian unit.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed flat in volatile trading as overseas investors sold shares of benchmark index companies on concern about rising oil prices.
The 30-share Sensex index closed down 3.99 points or 0.05 per cent to 7,612. Volumes totalled 28.97 billion rupees (662 million dollars).—AFP
