July 05, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 8, 1427

HONG KONG, July 4: Asian stocks were mostly higher, posting modest gains on Tuesday as investors waited on the sidelines for a fresh lead from the United States, dealers said.

They said solid gains on Wall Street made for a solid start but cautioned that New York was quiet due to half-day trade ahead of the Independence Day holiday and business would not return to normal until after the celebrations.

In the meantime, investors remained confident that US interest rates and those around the region were probably at or near their peak after the US Federal Reserve raised rates, as expected, last week.

This has resulted in a solid rebound in equities after the markets were heavily sold-of in a six week rout over interest rates concerns. Tokyo was up 0.43 per cent also as a result of Monday's Tankan survey which showed more companies were optimistic last month about the outlook for the economy and their business, giving sentiment a boost.

TOKYO: Share prices rose for a fourth straight day as overnight gains on Wall Street provided another boost to already upbeat market sentiment over the domestic economy.

The Nikkei-225 index rose 66.88 points to 15,638.50 by the close. Trading volume fell to 1.56 billion shares from 1.61 billion Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.26 per cent higher on follow-through interest in some property and financial stocks as the latest US economic data renewed hopes that the interest rate-rise cycle may be brought to an end soon.

SYDNEY: Share prices climbed 0.25 per cent as resource stocks were bought amid heightened speculation of further mergers following takeover activity in the United States.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.43 per cent higher on improving market sentiment as concerns eased over further US interest rate hikes.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent higher on active buying interest in blue chips and lower liners, and driven by a sharp improvement in May export data.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.76 per cent higher on Wall Street's overnight gains and following this week's release of tame June inflation data.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed little changed, as investors looked through the market for their next lead or theme.

The NZX-50 index fell 0.36 points to 3,597.79 on turnover worth 136.3 million New Zealand dollars (82.9 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed down 0.31 per cent, snapping three days of gains, as heavy rains in the financial capital Mumbai kept many traders away from their desks.—AFP