January 16, 2007	Tuesday	Zilhaj 25, 1427

HONG KONG, Jan 15: Asian stocks followed Wall Street's lead and closed sharply higher on Monday with Sydney, Mumbai and Wellington ending the day at all-time highs.

However, the spotlight was firmly on the Chinese markets where Shanghai surged 4.74 per cent and Hong Kong leapt 2.32 per cent with fresh funds entering the market and banking stocks in heavy demand.

Tokyo rose 0.90 per cent, lending further support to the region with Jakarta rising 3.12 per cent after the central bank moved to boost lending, Singapore gained 0.88 per cent, Manila rose 0.90 per cent and Kuala Lumpur by 0.72 per cent.

Gains were more modest in Seoul, up 0.19 per cent, and in Taipei which rose 0.28 per cent amid concerns over the Rebar financial scandal.

TOKYO: Share prices ended higher for a second straight trading day with investors heartened by firmer-than-expected economic data, a weak yen and stronger Wall Street.

The Nikkei-225 index closed up 152.91 points at 17,209.92. Volume was 1.90 billion shares, down from 2.08 billion on Friday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed sharply higher, gaining 2.32 per cent, led by properties and banks, with the benchmark index regaining the key 20,000 points level.

The Hang Seng Index jumped 455.15 points to 20,068.56. Turnover was 56.15 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$7.2 billion).

SYDNEY: Share prices rose 0.62 per cent for a record close, with investors buoyed by another Wall Street all-time high on Friday.

The SP/ASX 200 was up 35.0 points to 5,673.8. A total of 1.33 billion shares worth 3.4 billion dollars (2.7 billion US) changed hands.

BHP Billiton gained after falling below 24.00 dollars a share at the start of the year, helped by a positive outlook for nickel although copper prices remained under pressure at the end of last week.

Copper looks like it may make a bit of base at current levels even if it isn't that strong, he said. BHP rose 0.15 dollars to 25.25.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.88 per cent higher, boosted by property counters and blue chips.

The Straits Times Index rose 26.49 points to 3,035.58 on volume of 3.24 billion shares worth 1.70 billion dollars (1.11 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.72 per cent higher on follow-through interest in select blue chips.

Dealers said sentiment was bolstered by stronger regional markets and another record close on Wall Street last Friday.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed sharply higher, gaining 3.12 per cent on a technical rebound following last week's heavy selldowns and the central bank's move to boost lending activity.

The composite index closed up 52.431 points at 1,730.475 on volume of 2.24 billion shares worth 2.36 trillion rupiah (258.82 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 0.83 per cent, led to another record finish by Telecom after a report Australian media companies were interested in buying its Yellow Pages business.

The NZX-50 gross index put on 33.77 points to 4,085.61 in low turnover worth 64.5 million dollars (44.7 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices closed at a second straight record high led by software firms on expectations of strong quarterly results.

Dealers said optimism on earnings for software firms for the quarter ended December kept buying momentum strong.

The 30-share Sensex rose 73.11 points to 14,129.64.—AFP