December 06, 2006	Wednesday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1427

HONG KONG, Dec 5: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday with overnight gains on Wall Street supporting trade but investors were driven more by domestic issues which resulted in another bout of record closes.

This was particularly the case in Jakarta which leapt 2.63 per cent to a fresh record high on the prospect of another cut in interest rates.

TOKYO: Share prices fell 0.23 per cent as investors locked in early profits and turned cautious ahead of data this week in the United States and Japan.

The Nikkei-225 dropped 37.83 points to 16,265.76. Volume rose to 1.84 billion shares from 1.68 billion shares Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed sharply higher, gaining 1.29 per cent, in active trade led by blue chips and China stocks, with Wall Street's overnight gains supporting sentiment.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.03 per cent higher as an overnight surge on Wall Street sparked interest in resources, while gains were capped by losses in banking.

The SP/ASX 200 gained just 1.6 points to 5,426.5. Turnover was 1.63 billion shares worth 5.30 billion dollars (4,17 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices spiked 1.80 per cent higher to close at a new record high above the 2,900 level for the first time.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 1.07 per cent higher on strong buying in selected blue chips and buoyed by gains on Wall Street overnight and advances in regional markets.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed up 2.63pc at a fresh record high on expectations of a further rate cut at the central bank's next board meeting on Thursday.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.36 per cent higher, with strong support for leading stocks Telecom and Fletcher Building in an otherwise quiet market.

The NZSX-50 index gained 14.02 points to 3,849.07 on turnover worth 100.93m New Zealand dollars (US $68.93m).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed at another record high and crossed 14,000 points intraday as funds led buying in blue-chip companies.—AFP