February 14, 2006	Tuesday	Muharram 15, 1427

HONG KONG, Feb 13: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Monday with the prospect of higher interest rates impacting on broad sentiment across the region as offshore investors continued to ignore Tokyo.

Dealers said the 2.34 per cent fall in Tokyo had impacted on other markets with Seoul closing 1.08 per cent lower.

Mild gains on Wall Street last Friday added only some shine to trade in Kuala Lumpur but elsewhere the impact of the world’s biggest market was hardly noticeable. Bangkok was closed for a public holiday.

TOKYO: Share prices fell heavily, closing below the symbolic 16,000 points level for the first time in over two weeks as many foreign buyers continued to stay away.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 380.17 points or 2.34 per cent to 15,877.66 on turnover of 2.26 billion shares. It was the first time the index stood below 16,000 points since January 26.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.74 per cent lower led by Hutchison Whampoa after it indefinitely postponed its spin-off of unit 3 Italia and dealers said losses on the Tokyo bourse also dampened market sentiment.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 113.86 points at 15,312.09 on turnover of 31.71 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.0 billion US dollars).

SYDNEY: Share prices dropped 1.12 per cent as investors sold resource stocks after the central bank’s comments on monetary policy failed to lift sentiment.

The SP/ASX 200 index shed 54.4 points to 4,817.1 on turnover of 1.08 billion shares worth 3.87 billion dollars (2.86 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.24 per cent higher as the market continued its consolidation with gains in Singapore Airlines and Singapore Telecommunications lifting the index.

The Straits Times Index rose 5.91 points to 2,429.50 on volume of 1.31 billion shares valued at 1.07 billion Singapore dollars (657 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.27 per cent higher, finding some support in Wall Street’s modest gains Friday and with smaller stocks attracting speculative interest.

The composite index rose 2.46 points to 922.77. Volume was 1.36 billion shares worth 1.05 billion ringgit (0.28 dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed flat with further gains in gas firm PGN offsetting falls in the broader market after investors tracked declines on bourses elsewhere in the region.

The composite index closed down 0.701 points at 1,252.404 on volume of 1.09 billion shares valued at 1.45 trillion rupiah (157.27 billion dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed flat as a stellar performance by Fletcher Building offset pressure on market leader Telecom.

The NZSX-50 gross index added 0.17 points to 3,348.06 on turnover of 117.01 million New Zealand dollars (78.83 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed up 0.62 per cent at a record high, driven by buying in mid-sized companies across diverse sectors by mutual funds.

The 30-share Sensex rose 62.28 points to 10,173.25.—AFP