February 25, 2006	Saturday	Muharram 26, 1427

HONG KONG, Feb 24: Asian stocks closed mixed on Friday with investors following domestic leads and taking profits while negative sentiment stemming from Wall Street’s falls also weighed on sentiment.

Sydney fell in line with a similar performance by base metal prices, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur were down amid lingering concerns over interest rates and Wellington fell on weakness in blue chips.

Tokyo was flat but elsewhere modest gains were notched-up in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Taipei.

TOKYO: Share prices closed firmer, recovering from early losses as bargain hunters emerged to buy on the dips, encouraged by the recent return of foreign investors.

Share prices got off to a weak start as the yen rose and market sentiment was hurt by strong hints Thursday from Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui that the central bank will soon end its super-loose monetary policy.

Among banks, which would benefit from rising interest rates, Resona Holdings jumped 18,000 yen to 411,000, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 30,000 yen to 1,660,000.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent higher as index heavyweight HSBC attracted buying interest amid fresh speculation that it might make an acquisition.

The Hang Seng index closed up 43.52 points at 15,856.05. Turnover was 33 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.2 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.40 per cent lower after a fall in metal prices sparked profit-taking. The fall came after a week in which investors were buoyed by solid earnings reports.

Turnover was 1.29 billion shares worth 6.6 billion dollars (4.9 billion US), with rises outnumbering falls 537 to 492 and 329 shares closing unchanged.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.74 per cent higher, boosted by gains in blue chips such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) and diversified conglomerate Keppel Corp.

at 1.20 billion Singapore dollars (736.2 million US)

Based on the index closing above 2,450, the market should be firm next week, said a dealer with a local brokerage.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent lower on fears of rising inflation and interest rates with sentiment also undermined by Wall Street’s overnight losses.

The composite index was down 2.60 points at 924.91 on volume of 659.67 million shares worth 767.26 million ringgit (206.51 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.66 per cent lower, led by state Bank Mandiri and gas firm PGN amid continued concerns over possible disappointing 2005 earning results.

The composite index fell for the fourth consecutive day, down 8.024 points at 1,216.140. Volume was 816.70 million shares valued at 905.69 billion rupiah (97.02 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.49 per cent lower after leading stocks dragged the market lower. Market leader Telecom slipped two cents to 5.35 dollars.

The NZSX-50 gross index fell 16.55 points to 3,377.84 on turnover worth 167.1 New Zealand dollars (110.7 million US).—AFP