February 8, 2006	Wednesday	Muharram 9, 1427

HONG KONG, Feb 7: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday with another lacklustre performance on Wall Street and the prospect of higher interest rates rattling investors who opted to take profits, dealers said.

They said regional investors had until Monday widely disregarded New York’s recent falls but with many of the markets again hovering near all time and multi-year highs, a modest sell-off was not unexpected.

Mumbai again stood out by bucking the trend and rising 1.02 per cent to close for the first time above the historic 10,000-point level. Singapore registered mild gains while Bangkok and Taipei were flat.

TOKYO: Share prices closed narrowly mixed as the market took a breather after reaching a series of more than five year highs on optimism about the economy.

The Nikkei-225 index lost 26.77 points or 0.16 per cent to 16,720.99, a day after closing at the highest level since August 2000, on turnover of 2.35 billion shares.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.20 per cent weaker as Wall Street’s lacklustre performance overnight and interest rate worries prompted profit-taking.

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) closed down 31.05 points at 15,517.01 on turnover of 34.43 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.4 billion US dollars).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.21 per cent lower after a volatile session marked by mixed leads on the economic outlook.

BHP Billiton shares fell 0.15 to 25.70 while Rio Tinto fell 0.51 to 75.06.

The key SP/ASX 200 index fell 10.2 points to 4,905.4 on volume of 1.29 billion shares worth 3.74 billion dollars (2.77 billion US) changed hands.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.31 per cent higher led by selected blue chips and despite a lack of fresh leads, dealers said sentiment remains positive ahead of the government’s budget announcement set for next week.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.60 per cent lower as investors locked in profits after recent gains, however dealers said retail investors continued to buy lower liners and speculative stocks in anticipation of a rally.

The composite index shed 5.55 points to 923.84 on volume of 937.14 million shares worth 1.06 billion ringgit (0.28 billion dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 1.10 per cent higher after Bank Indonesia decided to keep its key interest rate, the BI rate, unchanged at 12.75 per cent.

The composite index closed up 13.713 points at 1,259.362 on volume of 1.7 billion shares worth 1.5 trillion rupiah (161.55 million dollars.)

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.18 per cent lower, with sentiment hit by losses in overseas markets. Weakness in overseas markets had affected local trading, Williamson added.

The NZSX-50 gross index fell 6.16 points to 3,372.46 on turnover worth 121.5 million New Zealand dollars (83 million US).

The market was closed Monday for a public holiday.

Telecom slipped four cents to 5.71 dollars while Contact Energy was up five cents at 6.75.

MUMBAI: Share prices gained 1.02 per cent to close above the psychological 10,000 level on sustained fund and buying in blue-chip companies.

The Sensex index closed up 101.86 points at 10,082.28 on volumes of 41.46 billion rupees ($938 million).—AFP