March 15, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 14, 1427

HONG KONG, March 14: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday following a mixed performance by Wall Street, a spike in the cost of crude and persistent fears over the prospect of interest rate hikes.

Tokyo slumped 0.75 per cent with profit takers cashing up on recent sharp gains while Taipei was among the worse on the day after its benchmark fell 1.29 per cent amid another bout of cross strait tensions.

Falls in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney were more modest while Shanghai and Manila were flat.

However, Wellington bucked the trend and struck a fresh record close with a rise of 1.77 per cent as its currency continues to slide, boosting expor-

ters.

Bangkok also rose with energy stocks benefitting from oil higher prices but the broader market was kept in check by continued protests calling for Premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s resignation.

TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.75 per cent lower as investors locked in profits after three straight days of gains that had pushed the key index to a one-month high.

Dealers said overall market sentiment remained positive, however, thanks to a weaker yen and after the Bank of Japan cleared a major uncertainty last week with an end to its deflation-busting monetary policy.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 123.15 points to 16,238.36 on turnover of 1.56 billion shares.

“The market is in an upward trend but investors are taking profits for now after such a sharp rise in such a short period of time,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed slightly lower, shedding 0.14 per cent as investors locked in profits in property and bank stocks amid persistent worries over the interest-rate environment.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 22.31 points at 15,519.76. Turnover was 23.12 billion Hong Kong dollars (3.0 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed down 0.39 per cent as investors sold resource stocks after mixed base metal prices overnight.

The S and P/ASX 200 fell 19.1 points to 4,932.2. A total of 1.22 billion shares worth 3.72 billion dollars (2.7 billion US) changed hands.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.21 per cent lower led by losses in banking, particularly DBS Bank which has entered a South Korean takeover race.

The stake has been valued at about 5.0 billion US dollars.

However, some traders felt that DBS is unlikely to fall much further, once the market realises the worries are unfounded.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.25 per cent higher on last-minute buying by retail investors and interest in selected blue chips and lower liners.

The composite index gained 2.34 points at 924.37 on volume of 902.21 million shares worth 824.23 million ringgit (221.63 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.14 per cent firmer with gains in nickel miner INCO and select banks led by Bank Mandiri, offsetting profit-taking elsewhere in the market.

The composite index closed up 1.718 points at 1,245.379 on volume of 2.69 billion shares worth 1.39 trillion rupiah (150.35 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices continued their record breaking run, rising 1.77 per cent on the back of a weakening dollar as investors shrugged off fresh data pointing to an economic slowdown.

The NZSX-50 gross index, was up 62.17 points at 3,579.16 on turnover worth 172.73 million New Zealand dollars (108.73 million US).—AFP