October 20, 2006	Friday	Ramazan 26, 1427

HONG KONG, Oct 19: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday after another record performance by the Dow Jones, which at one point broke the 12,000 barrier before easing off its highs.

However, in Asia gains were less than convincing with concerns over earnings, falls in the tech-heavy Nasdaq on Wall Street, and ongoing fears of another nuclear test in North Korea keeping trade cautious.

As a result Tokyo fell 0.61 per cent, Hong Kong Kong eased 0.34 per cent, Sydney was down 0.53 per cent and Taipei was 0.31 per cent lower.Seoul was flat.

TOKYO: Stocks went into reverse as investors stayed cautious ahead of earnings reports despite Wall Street's Dow Jones index topping 12,000 points for the first time.

The Nikkei-225 index slid 101.64 points or 0.61 per cent to 16,551.36. Volume was 1.53 billion shares, down from 1.60 billion on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.34 per cent lower on profit-taking in some blue chips, with trade confined to a narrow range as the initial public offering of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) locked up a huge amount of funds.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower as profit-taking was compounded by mixed US data overnight.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.95 per cent higher in a confident market after Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 12,000 level.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.30 per cent higher in thin trade with gains in select blue chips.

The local bourse will be closed next week for three days from Monday.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.26 per cent higher led by a rebound in blue chips.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.23 per cent higher following sharp gains in Fletcher Building and Telecom.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 8.31 points to 3,673.23 on turnover worth 193.6 million dollars (128.5 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices fell for a third straight session, closing down 1.03 per cent, on profit-taking in stocks that have reported strong corporate earnings.

The 30-share Sensex index fell 134.89 points to 12,723.59.

—AFP