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HONG KONG, Nov 7: Asian stocks closed weaker on Monday with poor jobs data in the United States, fears over inflation leading to higher interest rates and a possible spread of bird flu weighing on sentiment.
Dealers added, however, the profit taking had emerged with investors returning from holidays, which has heavily disrupted trade, and were looking for an excuse to take advantage of recent strength in the markets.
Tokyo was mixed, Shanghai and Manila were flat while benchmarks elsewhere registered modest losses with Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei and Singapore among the worse on the day.
Only Mumbai bucked the trend, rising 1.66 per cent, with investors hoping a weaker local currency will improve earnings for software companies.
Jakarta was closed for a public holiday.
TOKYO: Share prices closed mixed as profit-taking emerged after the market hit fresh four-year highs last week on optimism about the economy and company earnings.
Dealers said a weaker yen, which fell to a new two-year low beyond 118 per dollar before clawing back, failed to provide much of a boost to shares but should provide a lift to companies’ overseas earnings.
Many investors opted to cash in gains after the Nikkei index surged above the key 14,000 mark last Friday, said Hiroichi Nishi, equity general manager at Nikko Cordial Corp.
The 14,000 points level (on the Nikkei index) is a psychologically important level for many investors so they moved to take profits, said Hitoshi Yamamoto, fund manager at Commerz International Capital Management.
However, some institutional investors, who had not bought shares earlier, were also seen stepping into the market to make acquisitions out of fear they would otherwise miss the train, he added.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 14.36 points or 0.10 per cent to 14,061.60. Turnover was 3.69 billion shares.
Japan Airlines slipped three yen to 299 yen after the group posted an interim net loss of 12.04 billion yen on high fuel costs and weak passenger numbers.
JFE Holdings rose 100 yen to 3,760 after Japan’s number two steelmaker said its net profit rose nearly five-fold in the six months to September, driven by a sharp rise in the delivery price of steel products.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.50 per cent lower as recent sharper-than-expected hikes in interest rates hit apartment sales, undercutting sentiment in the key property sector.
Dealers said fears over the possible spread of bird flu and profit-taking after gains last week dragged China-related stocks down.
Property stocks led the declines as last week’s 50-basis point hikes in banks’ prime lending rates already caused a drop in apartment sales by both volume and value at the weekend, they said.
The Hang Seng Index lost 220 points to 14,365.79. Turnover was 17.18 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2.20 billion).
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.15 per cent lower amid heightened fears of a rise in inflation after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s quarterly statement on monetary policy showed that inflation was expected to increase gradually.
The S and P/ASX 200 index ended down 7.0 points at 4,512.5. Turnover was 944.7 million shares worth 2.5 billion dollars (1.8 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.42 per cent lower, following a regional trend, with profit-takers cashing in after recent sharp gains.
The Straits Times Index fell 9.44 points to 2,257.08. Volume traded totalled 706 million shares worth 676 million Singapore dollars (398 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.26 per cent lower, led by heavyweight Telekom Malaysia due to foreign fund selling, reflecting the weaker performance around the region.
The Composite Index eased 2.39 points to 911.53 on volume of 330.52 million shares worth 920.65 million ringgit ($243.71 million).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent lower in very quiet trade.
ABN Amro broker Matt Willis said there had been a lack of activity on the market.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 9.21 points to 3,316.45 on light turnover of 60 million New Zealand dollars (US$40.9m).
MUMBAI: Share prices closed sharply higher led by software companies with investors hopeful the recent weakening of the rupee against the dollar would benefit earnings.
The 30-share Sensex index rose 134.08 points or 1.66 per cent to close at 8,206.83 in moderate turnover of 30.19 billion rupees ($670 million).—AFP
