HONG KONG, Oct 10: Asian stocks closed firmer on Monday in a technical rebound after very heavy losses last week on persistent concerns that higher interest rates will be needed to curb rising inflation, dealers said.
They said a much better-than-expected US employment report Friday helped steady nerves, suggesting the US economy had weathered hurricanes Katrina and Rita with much less lasting damage than first feared.
At the same time, many noted it is possible the figures could be substantially revised and this made for a continued note of caution.
Trade was muted given Tokyo and Taipei were closed for a holiday but Seoul outperformed with a gain of 2.18 per cent whilst Sydney put on 0.64 per cent and Singapore added 1.66 per cent.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.34 per cent higher due to bargain-hunting and interest in selected blue chips after the market’s sharp falls last week.
The Hang Seng index closed up 50.98 points at 14,898.77 on turnover of 13.71 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.75bn US dollars).
Bank stocks were mixed, with HSBC gaining 0.10 to 123.80, Hang Seng Bank up 0.10 at 102.60 and BOC Hong Kong was up 0.05 at 15.30.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.64 per cent higher with blue chip resources stocks leading the rebound after last week’s heavy losses.
The S and P/ASX 200 index closed up 28.5 points at 4,469.1. Volumes were modest, with holidays in Japan making for a quieter day, but some 1.19 billion shares worth 3.03 billion dollars (2.31 billion US).
BHP Billiton gained 0.25 to 20.72 dollars while Rio Tinto added 0.75 to 57.25. National Australia Bank lost 0.05 to 32.20 and Commonwealth Bank fell 0.23 to 37.41.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.66 per cent higher, boosted by better-than-expected economic growth of 6.0 per cent in the third quarter.
The Straits Times Index rose 38.15 points to 2,343.39. Volume totalled 1.3 billion shares valued at 1.3 billion Singapore dollars (770 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.40 per cent higher, with palm oil and technology stocks finding support on hopes for an upturn in both industries.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 3.67 points to 928.88. Volume was 450.99 million shares, worth 711.76 million ringgit (189 million dollar).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.74 per cent higher with a rebound in Telkom and Indosat driving the composite index up in an otherwise quiet market.
The composite index added 8.128 points to 1,102.780 on volume of 609.17 million shares worth 618.23 billion rupiah (61.48 million dollars.).
Telkom rose 100 rupiah to 5,200 rupiah and Indosat gained 50 rupiah to 5,700 rupiah, recouping part of their losses on Friday.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.40 per cent higher with gains led by market bellwether Telecom.
The NZSX-50 index rose 13.78 points to 3,414.03 on turnover of 81.8 million dollars (57.3m US).
MUMBAI: Share prices registered only slight losses with the massive earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Kashmir, having little impact on the market.
The 30 share Sensex fell 7.7 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 8,483.86 while in Karachi the benchmark 100 index fell 21.56 points to 8,520.82.—AFP
