November 01, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 8, 1427

HONG KONG, Oct 31: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday in lacklustre trade following a mixed performance by Wall Street overnight with investors wary about the prospects for the world's largest economy.

Tokyo was also mixed after a swag of economic data indicated its economy could be picking up at a slower than expected rate, Manila was flat while Sydney eased and Mumbai fell after its central bank rejigged interest rates.

Slight gains were registered in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and in Jakarta where the benchmark inched further into record territory.

TOKYO: Share prices closed mixed, reflecting a lackluster performance on Wall Street overnight, weak local data and caution ahead of a key central bank report.

The Bank of Japan later said that the Japanese economy is enjoying a sustained recovery but inflation is picking up more slowly than expected, setting the scene for only gradual interest rate rises here.

The Nikkei-225 index rose 47.54 points to 16,399.39. Volume fell to 1.63 billion shares from 1.86 billion Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.15 per cent firmer as late buying of China Mobile and rotational interest in some blue chip laggards helped reverse early losses.

The key Hang Seng Index closed up 26.80 points at 18,324.35. Turnover was 43.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.5bn US dollars).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.24 per cent lower as investors took profits after Monday's record high.

Dealers said miners took the brunt of the sell-off while gains in the banks limited the downside.

The SP/ASX 200 lost 12.9 points to 5,386.5. Turnover was 1.53 billion shares worth 4.94 billion dollars (3.8 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.38 per cent higher with late buying in selected blue chips helping the main index recover from Monday's losses.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.23 per cent higher due to buying interest in selected blue chips.

The composite index closed up 2.23 points at 988.30 on turnover of 930.63m shares worth 1.12 billion ringgit (320m dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed up 0.15 per cent, pushing the main index to a new closing high, supported by strong interest in Telkom following its nine months results.

WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 0.78pc to approach record levels on the back of continued merger and acquisition activity.

The NZSX-50 index added 29.67 points to 3,784.50, just short of its record finish of 3,800.97 reached on April 7 this year. Turnover was 188.3 million New Zealand dollars (US $125.2m).—AFP