HONG KONG, Sept 23: Asian stocks closed lower on Friday in cautious trade as investors kept an eye on Hurricane Rita’s progress towards Texas and the major US oil and gas facilities there, fearful of a repeat of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina just weeks ago, dealers said.
There was some hope that Rita, which was downgraded to category four from five, might not prove as destructive as first feared but it remained a massive storm, posing risks to the US oil industry and possibly the wider economy.
On that basis and ahead of the weekend, there was no reason for any aggressive trade whilst Tokyo’s closure for a public holiday also made for quiet business overall.
Losses were modest except in Seoul, down 2.01 per cent to erase all the week’s gains as foreign investors took their profits on the run up to the historic 1,200 points level.
Mumbai had another roller-coaster day, finishing up/down/flat XXX per cent after another bout of nerves sparked early losses.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed off their lows as property stocks rebounded in late trade on hopes that next week’s government land auction will fetch high prices and trigger a rally in the sector.
“The property sector’s gains in late trade were underpinned by expectations that major developers will bid aggressively in the land auction on Tuesday,” said Conita Hung, head of research at Delta Asia Securities.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 35.98 points or 0.24 per cent at 15,143.97, on turnover of 17.74 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.27 billion US dollars).
Properties were up with Sun Hung Kai Properties gaining 0.80 to 81.25 and Cheung Kong up 0.05 at 85.40.
Among banks, HSBC was down 0.20 at 125, Hang Seng Bank was down 0.10 at 103.80 and BOC Hong Kong was flat at 15.35.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed little changed after a retreat by the banks was offset by solid gains in select stocks elsewhere.
The S and P/ASX 200 index added 0.7 points at 4,562.4. Turnover was 1.05 billion shares worth 3.24 billion dollars (2.5 billion US)
Newcrest added 0.04 to 20.44 dollars, Lihir Gold gained 0.03 to 1.815 and Oxiana added 0.005 to 1.29.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.10 per cent higher in cautious trade as investors kept an eye on the progress of Hurricane Rita and the damage it might cause to major US oil and gas facilities.
The Straits Times Index rose 2.36 points to 2,293.04. Volume totalled 947 million shares valued at US$417 million.
Labroy Marine was up a cent to 1.06. Keppel Corp, which has operations in the offshore marine engineering sector, was up 10 cents at 12.90.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.13 per cent lower, amid concerns over rising inflation and an absence of fresh leads.
For next week, he sees support at 920 points and stronger support at 910, while resistance is at 930.
The composite index was down 1.16 points at 921.89. Volume was 408.45 million shares, worth 675.73 million ringgit (179 million dollars).
Among blue chips, Telekom Malaysia and Maybank were flat at 10.30 ringgit and 11.60, respectively, while Tenaga Nasional lost 0.10 to 10.70.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.38 per cent lower as quick profit-taking in index heavyweights Astra International and Indosat erased early morning gains.
The composite index fell 3.907 points to 1,012.851 on volume of 1.01 billion shares worth 1.09 trillion rupiah (106.7 million dollars).—AFP
