HONG KONG, Dec 23: Asian stocks provided a final dose of Christmas cheer and closed mostly higher on Friday in low volumes with many investors sidelined ahead of the holiday period, dealers said.
They said sentiment received a boost by modest gains on Wall Street overnight and this, coupled with foreign investor buying, helped Taipei to finish at its highest levels for the year.
Such interest also contributed to gains in Seoul and Sydney, where both markets again struck record highs, while Manila was another strong performer with investors beginning to position for 2006.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat in thin trade as most investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the long Christmas weekend.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 1.05 points at 15,183.58. Turnover was 11.0 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.41 billion US dollars)
Sun Hung Kai Properties was up 0.20 at 76.35, while Cheung Kong was up 0.15 at 80.95.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed at a record high, adding 0.42 per cent led by the banks and miners as investors signed off for the Christmas holidays.
Trade was light in the half-day session, which closed at 2:15 pm (0315 GMT), with positive leads from overseas markets boosting sentiment, dealers said.
The S and P/ASX 200 index ended the day up 19.9 points at 4,727.7. Turnover was 773.8 million shares worth 5.23 billion dollars (3.83 billion US).
National Australia Bank added 0.41 to 32.21 dollars, Commonwealth Bank gained 0.38 to a record 42.42, ANZ was 0.11 higher at 24.15 and Westpac rose 0.30 to 22.78.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.2 per cent higher in thin pre-holiday trade, with the spotlight on hard-disk drive and technology stocks.
The Straits Times Index gained 4.63 points to 2,328.29. Volume totaled 563 million shares worth 465 million Singapore dollars (280 million US dollars).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.42 per cent lower in the absence of any lead as institutional funds continued to offload blue chips to meet year-end redemptions.
Among blue chips, Tenaga Nasional was up 0.05 ringgit at 9.90, while Telekom Malaysia was flat at 9.50 despite earlier bargain-hunting by local institutional funds following Thursday’s falls, dealers said.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.49 per cent lower on profit-taking led by index heavyweight Telkom following recent gains.
Telkom dropped 100 rupiah to 5,950 while long-distance operator Indosat gained 50 to finish at 5,600.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.19 per cent up in light half-day trading before Christmas with the market firmly in holiday mode.
“It’s just what you’d expect for the holiday period,” said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 1.23 per cent lower as investors booked profits and stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Christmas weekend.
The 30-share Sensex fell 115.39 points to 9,256.91. Volumes were moderate at Rs32.16 bn ($702 m)—AFP
