March 9, 2006	Thursday	Safar 8, 1427

HONG KONG, March 8: Asian stocks closed lower on Wednesday with the sell-down continuing after a mixed finish by Wall Street where the bond market has signalled the prospect of higher interest rates.

Anxiety was also afflicting investors waiting on decision by the Bank of Japan and whether or not it will end its ultra-loose monetary policy. That cautious trade pushed Tokyo down 0.63 per cent.

The mood elsewhere was not much better with Bangkok suffering an almost two per cent fall amid the negative sentiment from offshore compounded by daily moves by opposition leaders aimed at ousting Prime Minister Thaskin Shinawatra.

Seoul was lower ahead of a triple witching, weaker metal prices hurt Sydney, cross straits tensions again punished Taipei, and corporate earnings concerns weighed on Jakarta.

Only Singapore bucked the trend with a solid rise by the banking sector amid hopes that local interest rates have peaked.

TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.63 per cent lower with investors unwilling to make bets ahead of a decision by the Bank of Japan on whether to end its ultra-loose monetary policy.

The Nikkei-225 index fell 98.53 points to 15,627.49 as 1.73 billion shares changed hands.

Investors are taking to the sidelines as all eyes are on the outcome (Thursday) of the Bank of Japan’s policy-setting meeting, said Keniichi Hirano, senior strat-egist at Tachibana Securities.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed lower, extending steep falls seen earlier in the week on continuing worries over the interest-rate environment.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 109.27 points or 0.70 per cent at 15,493.09 on turnover of 41.18 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.2 billion US dollars).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.14 per cent lower as investors sold resource stocks after metal prices retreated further overnight from record heights.

The SP/ASX 200 fell 6.7 points to 4,873.0. A total of 1.25 billion shares worth 4.2 billion dollars (3.1 billion US) changed hands.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.54 per cent higher as gains in blue-chips helped offset losses in the broader market.

The Straits Times Index was up 13.45 points at 2,502.60 on volume of 1.14 billion shares worth 1.19 billion Singapore dollars (735 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.18 per cent lower with investors sidelined by market uncertainties despite data showing January exports rose 11.7 per cent year-on-year.

The composite index shed 1.68 points to 913.53 and volume was 509.70 million shares worth 773.0 million ringgit.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed lower on an extended correction after the benchmark index hit an all-time high earlier this week.

The composite index fell 12.655 points to 1,233.596, on volume of 1.49 billion shares valued at 1.53 trillion rupiah ($166 million ).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.27 per cent lower as the market consolidated after sharp gains in the previous two sessions.

The NZSX-50 gross index fell 9.21 points to 3,449.47 on turnover worth 166.1m New Zealand dollars (US$-108.0m).—AFP