April 27, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1427

HONG KONG, April 26: Asian stocks rebounded to a sharply higher close on Wednesday, shrugging off a poor showing by Wall Street and ignoring international concerns over near record oil prices.

Instead, investors turned to local issues with strength in the South Korean won pushing Seoul to a record high and Jakarta also notched up a best ever finish on bargain hunting in select blue chips.

Mumbai continued on its roller coaster ride and sharp gains were registered in Taipei, and to a lesser extent Hong Kong, amid position squaring ahead of futures expiries.

TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.50 per cent higher, regaining the key 17,000 points level on bargain hunting and hopes for positive corporate results.

Dealers said, however, that many players kept to the sidelines amid worries about rising interest rates, a stronger yen and high oil prices.

The Nikkei-225 index gained 85.64 points to 17,055.93. Volume was 1.61 billion shares, against 1.66 billion Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.57 per cent higher on bargain-hunting after the market’s sharp falls over the last two days.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed up 1.09 per cent at a fresh record high as investors returned from a one-day holiday to buy banking stocks.

The S and P/ASX 200 index rose 57.4 points to 5,327.28. Turnover was 1.72 billion shares worth 5.17 billion dollars (3.86 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.51 per cent higher on late buying after the government said manufacturing output for March expanded stronger than anticipated.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.55 per cent higher as investors set aside inflation concerns and were buoyed by a strong ringgit and solid economic fundamentals.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 1.57 per cent higher with gains in blue chips such as Indosat and Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) driving the composite index to a fresh record high.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 1.34 per cent higher after export-related stocks fell on a decline in the New Zealand dollar and a rise in leading stock Telecom.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed higher on a 2.5 per cent surge in the benchmark index that put the brakes on a three-day slide as domestic funds bought real estate, metal and automobile stocks.—AFP