September 01, 2006	Friday	Sha'aban 7, 1427

HONG KONG, Aug 31: Asian stocks rallied to a higher close on Thursday after US data pointed to stronger than initially thought economic growth in the world's largest economy.

US GDP grew at a revised annualized rate of 2.9pc in the second quarter, more than the initial figure of 2.5 per cent.

But with the rate still far less than the 5.6 per cent growth in the first quarter, dealers said solid arguments remained that the US Federal Reserve can still keep interest rates on hold.

Sydney gained 0.95 per cent, Bangkok surged 0.93 per cent, Seoul by 0.85pc, Manila rose 0.67 per cent and Hong Kong by 0.62 per cent. Only Mumbai bucked the trend with a slight fall amid weakness in telecom stocks.

Kuala Lumpur was closed for a public holiday.

TOKYO: Share prices rose sharply, returning above the key 16,000 points level as sentiment got a boost from an upward revision to second-quarter US economic growth.

Dealers said the US GDP data had helped offset concerns over weaker-than-expected Japanese industrial output.

The Nikkei-225 index climbed 268.74 points or 1.69 per cent to 16,140.76.

Volume reached 1.66 billion shares, up from 1.47 billion on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.62 per cent higher led by property stocks as US economic data strengthened hopes the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged.

Sentiment was also bolstered by strong gains on the Japanese market.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 107.56 points at 17,392.27.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.95 per cent higher as investors bought major bank and resource stocks on month-end portfolio adjustments.

The SP/ASX 200 rose 48.1 points to 5,115.4. Turnover was 1.19 billion shares worth 5.16 billion dollars (3.93 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.45 per cent higher in line with gains on regional bourses which rose on the back of Wall Street overnight and positive US economic data.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.47 per cent higher on positive domestic sentiment after the release of solid first half results by blue chips PGN gas firm and Indofood.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed down 0.21 per cent to snap five straight days of gains as investors locked in profits.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex index fell 24.87 points to 11,699.05.—AFP