October 11, 2006	Wednesday	Ramazan 17, 1427

HONG KONG, Oct 10: Asian stocks rallied on Tuesday, led by Tokyo which hit a five-month high as investors recovered their nerve after North Korea's announcement of its first atom bomb explosion.

Dealers said while Pyongyang's proclaimed underground nuclear test had increased uncertainties in the region, investors took the view that economic fundamentals remain sound and there is no need to flee Asian markets.

Wall Street's resilient response also helped calm jitters.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 41.19 points or 0.25 per cent at 16,477.25, the best finish since May 15 but off an earlier high of 16,620.15 after key machinery orders data missed expectations.

The Tokyo market opened more than 100 points lower as traders on Asia's largest bourse returned from a long holiday weekend, reacting cautiously to a sell-off on other Asian markets on Monday, especially South Korea.

TOKYO: Share prices closed at a five-month high as investors shrugged off North Korea's announced nuclear test and focused on the economy instead.

Dealers said the main Nikkei index reversed early losses to bounce into positive territory, giving a boost to other Asian markets, but later pared gains on news of a smaller-than-expected rise in Japanese machinery orders.

The Nikkei-225 index rose 41.19 points or 0.25 per cent to 16,477.25. Volume was 1.69 billion shares, down from 1.54 billion on Friday.

The Tokyo market was closed Monday for a national holiday when North Korea said it had exploded its first atom bomb.

Share prices opened lower in a knee-jerk reaction but sentiment recovered, helped by a resilient performance overnight on Wall Street, dealers said.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.84 per cent higher as investors took comfort from the calm reaction on Wall Street and in the Japanese market to North Korea's nuclear test.

Dealers said the local market was boosted by gains in Chinese banks after reports of strong institutional response to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (ICBC's) huge initial public offering.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 148.46 points at 17,823.70. Turnover was 29.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (US $3.8 billion).

SYDNEY: Shares prices closed up 0.95 per cent, rebounding from Monday's sell-off over North Korea's nuclear test and interest rate concerns.

Dealers said buying of mining and bank stocks supported the wider market.

The SP/ASX 200 advanced 49.5 points to 5,248.6. The total number of shares traded was 1.24 billion, worth 4.16 billion dollars. BHP Billiton shares jumped 0.77 to 25.87.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has been presented with more reasons to leave interest rate settings unchanged until the New Year, he said.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.0 per cent higher on a technical rebound one day after sharp losses that followed North Korea's announcement of a nuclear test.

The Straits Times index closed up 26.15 points at 2,647.66 on volume of 1.34 billion shares worth 1.15 billion Singapore dollars (724 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed flat after investors locked in early gains in the absence of fresh developments, following the global condemnation of North Korea's nuclear test.

The composite index closed up 0.33 points to 969.71 on turnover of 697.18 million shares worth 770.53 million ringgit (220 million dollars).

The market, after opening stronger on hopes that the North Korea nuclear test crisis would be resolved soon ... lost steam as investors looked for other leads to buy into the market, a local brokerage dealer said.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.74 per cent higher in line with a rebound in regional markets after Monday's fall on the back of North Korea's nuclear test.

The composite index closed up 11.493 points at a record 1,554.917, on volume of 1.17 billion shares valued at 2.03 trillion rupiah (220.05 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed flat in quiet trade following a mixed performance by leading stocks.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 0.12 points to 3,596.10 on turnover worth 86.8 million dollars (57.2 million US).

Market leader Telecom fell as low as 4.09 dollars before closing down three cents at 4.13 dollars.

MUMBAI: Shares closed flat for a second day, shedding early gains as investors locked in profits ahead of the start of the second-quarter corporate earnings season Wednesday.

Index-linked software, automobile and consumer goods stocks gained marginally.

India's second-largest software exporter Infosys is set to announce July-September quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

Infosys is likely to show nearly 40 per cent growth in net profit for the quarter ending September 30, according to analysts' consensus.—AFP