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HONG KONG, Feb 13: Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday with further falls on Wall Street, amid rising anxiety over a slow-down in corporate earnings, punishing regional sentiment.
Broad profit-taking ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays also held back trade with domestic factors also impacting, particularly in South Korea which closed higher ahead of an agreement on the North Korean nuclear issue.
Tokyo was the standout, striking a six year high on the back of a weaker yen which cuts the price of Japanese exports. Sydney struck a record high on support for banks.
TOKYO: Share prices closed at their highest level for six years and nine months, lifted by a weaker yen and hopes of upbeat economic growth figures this week.
Some market watchers said easing worries of a rise in local interest rates also drove the gains although strong gross domestic product figures for the quarter to December expected Thursday could boost the chances of a hike.
The Nikkei-225 index added 117.12 points to 17,621.45. Volume rose to 2.44 billion shares from 2.34 billion on Friday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 2.24 per cent lower in a technical correction, which was accelerated by a brokerage report warning of a major correction in the short term.
Dealers said investors were also content to lock in profits ahead of Chinese New Year holidays while Hutchison Telecom fell sharply as investors fretted over its future following the sale of its entire Indian mobile telecom assets.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 461.16 points at 20,132.25. Turnover was 50.05 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.42 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.67 per cent lower as investors continued to cash in gains from the market's recent bull run.
The budget is widely expected to include a corporate tax cut.
The Straits Times Index fell 21.30 points to 3,149.16 on volume of 1.87bn shares valued at 1.76bn Singapore dollars (1.22bn US).
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 0.70 per cent lower which was the third straight fall for the benchmark index on concern that rising inflation will lead to higher interest rates.
The 30-share Sensex fell 99.72 points to 14,090.98. India's largest aluminium company Hindalco fell for the second straight day, shedding 7.35 rupees or 4.92pc to 142.10 in the wake of its successful purchase of Canadian-based Novelis for six billion dollars last week.—AFP
