April 6, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1427

HONG KONG, April 5: Asian stocks closed firmer on Wednesday, with the underlying momentum of the recent advance ensuring further gains in the absence of any specific news lead, dealers said. They said that while there is some concern about what the US employment report due Friday may mean for US interest rates, overall confidence is solid and investors appear in no mood to call a halt even at current levels.

Sydney was typical, adding 0.86 per cent in another record performance helped by Wall Street’s advance and continued support for major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices fell as investors opted to pocket gains for a second straight day after the broad market rose to the highest level for almost 15 years, dealers said.

By the close, the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index had lost 48.93 points or 0.28 per cent to 17,243.98, well off the earlier high of 17,464.54, which was the best level since July 2000.

Losers outnumbered gainers 1,220 to 402, with 73 stocks unchanged.

Volume rose to 2.14 billion shares from 2.02 billion on Tuesday.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 0.86 per cent in another record-breaking performance, helped by overnight gains on Wall Street and strong support for the mining and banking stocks, dealers said.

The major banks also attracted interest after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold at 5.50 per cent for a 13th consecutive month.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.49 per cent higherWednesday led by gains in blue chips including banking giant DBS Group, dealers said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.13 per cent higher in heavy trade as a recent improvement in investor sentiment picked up further in a laggard market, dealers said.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.37 per cent higher for another record finish on renewed buying in the banks, dealers said.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.62 per cent higher as top stock Telecom pulled the market to a record finish for a ninth consecutive day, dealers said.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices hit a third straight record close as retail investors joined in the rally, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 108.89 points or 0.94 per cent to 11,746.90, beating Tuesday’s record close. The Sensex also touched a new intra-day record of 11,755.20 in early trade.—AFP