November 22, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 29, 1427

HONG KONG, Nov 21: Asian stocks closed higher on Tuesday with bargain hunters moving into the markets after sharp falls were sparked on Monday amid a bout of nerves over Japan's economic outlook.

On the day, the mood in Tokyo improved but investors remained cautious and the benchmark closed only slightly higher. However, this was enough to offset any negative sentiment from Wall Street where equities closed mixed.

As a result Seoul was up 0.25 per cent, Hong Kong rose 0.28 per cent, Taipei gained 0.66 percent, Singapore was up 1.14 per cent while Sydney also benefitted from higher metal prices and finished 0.67 per cent higher.

Jakarta was among the exceptions, easing 0.16 percent after an extended rally at record levels while Bangkok was down 0.24 percent amid concerns over new provisions to be applied to its banking sector.

TOKYO: Share prices closed narrowly mixed with the Nikkei index ending just off a near two-month low amid nervousness over the local economic outlook.

Dealers said stocks staged an early rally as bargain hunters emerged after Monday's slump below the 16,000 points level but the gains mostly faded by the end of trading.

The Nikkei-225 edged up 8.20 points to 15,734.14. Volume fell to 1.65 billion shares from 1.94 billion on Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent higher on short-covering and bargain-hunting following Monday's sell-off, with HSBC leading the market rebound.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 53.67 points at 19,008.30, just recovering the key 19,000 points level after Monday's sharp 1.19 percent sell-off.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.67 per cent higher as investors sought bargains following Monday's large sell-off and a recovery in base metal prices overnight.

They also noted reduced interest in leading telco Telstra dampened trading volumes while some of the banks continued to weaken following their ex-dividend cycle.

The SP/ASX 200 advanced 35.6 points to 5,358.0. Turnover was 1.65 billion shares worth 6.01 billion dollars (4.62 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.14 per cent higher led by gains in property stocks and blue chips after Monday's selloff.

The Straits Times Index closed up 31.47 points at 2,802.88 on volume of 1.33 billion shares worth 1.23 billion Singapore dollars (793 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed higher due to renewed interest in plantations stocks after a surge in crude palm oil prices boosted companies' earnings prospects.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.16 per cent lower, led by profit-taking in selected blue chip stocks.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.31 per cent higher, overcoming a fall in leading stocks to gain momentum as Australian shares rose.

The NZX-50 index gained 11.99 points to 3,821.19 on turnover worth 181.9 million dollars (120.47 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices rebounded sharply to close 1.39 per cent higher at a fresh record high as funds bought heavily in benchmark index firms.—AFP