HONG KONG, Nov 10: Asian stocks closed mixed in cautious trade with investors only slightly buoyed by a better performance on Wall Street and hopes for an end of year rally, dealers said.
They said interest rates, concern over corporate earnings and bird flu, were the main factors in holding back gains.
Dealers said the markets would probably remain rangebound ahead of the release of economic data and profit results with investors nervous over the impact of historically high oil prices and inflation on bottom lines.
Mumbai and Manila were flat.
TOKYO: share prices inched up to a new four-year closing high despite news of a slump in machinery orders, although investors remained cautious ahead of key growth figures.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 8.68 points or 0.06 percent to 14,080.88, its highest closing level since May 22, 2001, as 2.97 billion shares changed hands on the main section.
HONG KONG: Shares closed 0.25 per cent higher on follow-through interest in blue chips with news of privatisations and spin-offs involving major companies supporting sentiment.
The key Hang Seng Index was up 35.78 points at 14,633.33 on turnover of 16.92 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2.16 billion). Henderson Investment rose sharply by 2.10 to 12.75, while Henderson Land fell 0.25 to 34.15.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.39 per cent higher as institutional investors picked up stock but there was a note of caution after some guarded corporate comment.
The SP/ASX 200 index was up 17.6 points at 4,543.7. Turnover was 1.05 billion shares worth 3.93 billion dollars (2.9 billion US).
NAB fell 66 cents to 32.52 dollars and the Commonwealth slid 18 cents to 40.35 dollars but Westpac rose 43 cents to 22.05 dollars and ANZ was up five cents to 23.10 dollars.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower, dragged down by losses in Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) after its results.
The Straits Times Index fell 12.08 points to 2,258.25. Volume totalled 818 million shares worth 795 million Singapore dollars (468 million US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.60 per cent lower in sluggish trade Thursday on selling of selected blue chips.
Dealers said trading was also rangebound in the absence of fresh leads, and the key index just managed to close above the psychologically-important 900-mark despite trading below it for some time.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 5.46 points to 901.09 and volume traded was 293.77 million shares, worth 765.42 million ringgit (202.60 million dollars) while losers outnumbered gainers 440 to 202.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.87 per cent lower on follow-through selling mostly in the banks amid persistent concerns the central bank will continue to hike interest rates to control inflation.
He said despite recent rapid increases, the current interest rate of 12.25 percent is still about five percentage points below the October year-on-year inflation figure of 17.89 percent.
Bank Central Asia was down 50 rupiah at 3,000, Bank Danamon was down 175 to 3,675, Bank Internasional Indonesia was down 5.0 at 135, Bank Rakyat Indonesia was down 75 at 2,375 while Bank Permata was down 10 at 510.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.62 per cent lower on fears that interest rates will rise further following strong employment data.
New Zealand’s jobless rate fell to a 23-year low of 3.4 percent in the September quarter, down from 3.6 percent in the previous three months, while job growth was much higher than expected at 1.3 percent.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 20.43 points to 3,281.57 on turnover of 132.6 million New Zealand dollars (91.2 million US).
Telecom was six cents lower at 5.72 dollars, Contact Energy dropped seven cents to 6.68 and Auckland Airport fell two cents to 1.95.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed flat in listless trade as cautious investors awaited a fresh trigger while the market appeared consolidating after sharp gains in recent sessions.
Dealers said investors were also cautious amid a lacklustre regional trend triggered by rising interest rates in the United States and concerns of bird flu outbreak in China and its impact on Hong Kong shares.—AFP
