April 22, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427

HONG KONG, April 21: Asian stocks closed mixed on Friday with the market continuing to consolidate in the wake of sharp gains made earlier in the week, dealers said.

They said sentiment remained strong after overnight gains on Wall Street amid improved earnings results and the prospect that the US cycle of interest rate hikes could be nearing an end.

However, record oil prices remained a concern while a fall in metal prices also impacted on trade.

Mumbai was flat with its benchmark holding above the key 12,000 point mark.

TOKYO: Share prices closed higher on the back of a positive lead from Wall Street and high hopes for an upcoming slew of domestic earnings news.

The Nikkei-225 index gained 86.43 points or 0.50 per cent to 17,403.96. Volume rose to 1.75 billion shares from 1.69 billion Thursday.

Over the week the Nikkei rose 0.98 per cent and the TOPIX added 0.70 per cent.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed lower, down 0.19 per cent, on a mild technical correction after the market gained more than 630 points over the last four sessions.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed down 0.51 per cent on profit-taking in resource stocks although the market’s fall was limited by gains in the banking sector.

The S and P/ASX 200 index dropped 26.8 points to 5,250.1. Turnover was 1.48 billion shares worth 4.96 billion dollars (3.66 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices rose 0.76 per cent for another record finish, this time above 2,600 points as investors bought in ahead of general elections in May and upcoming quarterly results.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed O.17 per cent higher due to follow-through buying driven by the ringgit’s strength against the dollar which outweighed inflation fears.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.36 per cent lower on profit-taking in Telkom and the banks after the market’s record-breaking run.

The composite index was down 5.240 points at 1,459.288 on volume of 2.60 billion shares worth 2.51 trillion rupiah (279 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent higher following a strong close by Wall Street. “It’s been a rough few days,” said Forsyth Barr broker David Price.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 19.34 points to 3,699.88 on turnover worth 135.6 million New Zealand dollars (85.1 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed broadly flat, recovering from a sharp early Selloff, and remained above the key 12,000 level.

The 30-share Sensex index closed down 9.2 points or 0.08 per cent at 12,030.3 after crossing the historic 12,000 level Thursday, powered by domestic funds buying.—AFP