February 11, 2006	Saturday	Muharram 12, 1427

HONG KONG, Feb 10: Asian stocks closed lower on Friday with fears of further interest rate rises in the United States again haunting the markets and sidelining buyers, dealers said.

They said corporate results due out next week had also held investors back amid uncertainty over whether profits will meet expectations.

Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong were flat but all other markets were lower with Tokyo down 1.19 per cent despite a sharp jump in machinery orders.

TOKYO: Share prices closed down over one per cent Friday despite a jump in local machinery orders as many foreign buyers stayed away given concerns about rising US interest rates.

Dealers said a sharp rise in Japan’s December machinery orders, a closely watched measure of capital investment, was also marred somewhat by a lacklustre outlook for the quarter to March.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 181.84 points to 16,257.83 on turnover of 2.63 billion shares.

Share prices ended weaker, said Hideo Mizutani, chief strategist at Sieg Securities. This is because of lingering concerns about a lack of active inflows of funds from offshore investors.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat in rangebound trade as comments by a US Federal Reserve official overnight triggered fresh concerns over the outlook for interest rates.

The Hang Seng Index was up 12.52 points at 15,425.95. Turnover was 29.98 billion Hong Kong dollars (3.8 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.13 per cent lower despite a resurgence of investor interest in market dominant resource stocks.

The benchmark SP/ASX 200 index rose as much as 33.9 points in the morning session but closed the day down 6.1 points at 4,871.5. A total of 1.23 billion shares worth 4.38 billion dollars (3.24 billion US) changed hands.

Foulsham said Telstra pulled back slightly after the brief rally Thursday following its half-year profit results.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.33 per cent lower on profit-taking in small cap stocks with investors looking ahead to the budget announcement next week and waiting for more corporate results.

The Straits Times Index fell 8.03 points to 2,423.59 on volume of 1.42 billion shares valued at 1.21 billion Singapore dollars (742 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed flat with investors reluctant to take positions ahead of the weekend in the absence of any convincing lead from lacklustre overseas markets.

The composite index slipped 0.32 points to 920.31. Volume was 1.02 billion shares worth one billion ringgit (0.26 dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent higher, extending gains led by gas distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara and second line stocks.

The composite index rose 6.465 points to 1,253.105 on 1.32 billion shares worth 1.26 trillion rupiah (136.5 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.19 per cent lower, dragged down by market leader Telecom in lacklustre trade.

The NZSX-50 gross index fell 6.39 points to 3,347.89 on turnover worth 172 million New Zealand dollars (116 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed up 0.66 per cent at a record high, driven by buying in pharmaceutical and automobile stocks.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex rose 66.15 points to 10,110.97.—AFP