December 16, 2006	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 24, 1427

HONG KONG, Dec 15: Asian stocks closed sharply higher on Friday, extending the latest rally after a strong overnight performance by Wall Street was fueled by a fall in US jobless claims.

This inspired investors here who are gearing-up for a traditional end of year rally, resulting in Sydney, Singapore, Jakarta and Wellington all striking record closing highs.

Tokyo, trading at its best levels since May, was up 0.51 per cent while Manila gained 0.81 per cent for its best finish in nine years.

Kuala Lumpur surged 1.29 per cent, Mumbai gained 0.94 per cent, Taipei rose 0.78 per cent and Seoul rose by a more modest 0.25 per cent.

TOKYO: Share prices closed up 0.51 per cent at a fresh seven-month high after a central bank survey showed business sentiment at its strongest level since September 2004.

The Nikkei-225 gained 85.11 points to 16,914.31. Volume increased to 1.66 billion shares from 1.51 billion shares Thursday.

Masayoshi Yano, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center, said the market was buoyed by the Bank of Japan's quarterly Tankan survey while the weak yen continued to support exporters.

The Tankan results supported the market view that the Bank of Japan has no need to be in a hurry to raise interest rate this year, Yano said.

The Bank of Japan next week holds its last policy meeting for 2006. It has kept its benchmark overnight call rate target at 0.25 per cent since July when it ended an unorthodox five-year policy of zero interest.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.01 per cent higher, ending the week with a solid gain as fresh fund inflows and strong performances by new listings added to positive sentiment arising from a record close on Wall Street overnight.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 191.25 points at 19,110.65. Turnover was heavy at 63.23 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.11 billion US).

SYDNEY: Shares closed on record highs after an overnight surge on Wall Street and higher commodity prices buoyed mining and energy stocks.

Dealers said the Australian market enjoyed a bounce from Wall Street and from metal and oil prices moving higher overnight.

The S and P/ASX 200 gained 2.3 points to 5,575.4. A total of 1.87 billion shares worth 4.64 billion dollars (3.64 billion US) were traded.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed at a new record high for the second straight session on continued investor confidence in the economy.

The Straits Times Index gained 15.01 points to 2,931.29. Volume totalled 1.44 billion shares worth 1.38 billion Singapore dollars (896 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices gained 1.29 per cent in a technical rebound after three straight days of losses, with investor sentiment boosted by merger activity in the plantations sector.

The composite index rose 13.85 points to 1,089.32. Trading volume was 840.69 million shares valued at 1.72 billion ringgit ($471 million).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed up 1.38 per cent due to strong gains in large caps such as Telkom and PGN, which helped push the benchmark index to a fresh finishing high.

The composite index closed up 24.362 points to 1,792.164 on volume of 3.43 billion shares worth 4.66 trillion rupiah (512.93 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.62 per cent higher, hitting a new record following gains in overseas markets.

The NZX-50 index rose 24.73 points to 3,992.57 on turnover worth 127.7 million New Zealand dollars (87.9 million US).

The world's awash with liquidity, Macquarie Equities broker Kerry Porter said.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed 0.94 per cent higher as domestic and overseas funds shrugged off concerns about inflation and higher interest rates and resumed buying.

The Sensex hit a record high of 13,972.03 on December 7, but fell sharply after the Reserve Bank of India at the weekend raised the amount of cash banks must set aside as reserve by 50 basis points to 5.50 per cent.—AFP