March 31, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1428

HONG KONG, March 30: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday following Wall Street rise and easing concerns over the US economy but gains were capped by Middle East tension which has driven up the price of oil.

Wall Street firmed Thursday after an upward revision to US economic growth helped ease fears about a slowdown and this had most Asia Pacific markets off to a positive start before some bargain hunters stepped in.

Rising oil prices also weighed on sentiment amid the week-old standoff between London and Tehran over 15 naval detainees which has sent world oil prices surging to a six-month high -- with warnings they could rise further.

As a result, Tokyo gained just 0.14 per cent, Taipei was up 0.46 per cent, Seoul gained 0.11 per cent and Sydney was 0.57 per cent higher.

TOKYO: Share prices closed slightly higher after an upward revision to US economic growth which helped lift Wall Street overnight.

Dealers said investors cashed in most of their early gains, turning cautious ahead of Monday's key Tankan survey of Japanese business sentiment after a raft of domestic data broadly met market expectations.

The Nikkei-225 index rose 23.71 points to 17,287.65. Volume fell to 1.94 billion shares from 2.34 billion on Thursday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.11 per cent lower, though off their lows, as profit-taking eased toward the end of trade, but with caution remaining over rising crude oil prices.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 20.85 points at 19,800.93. Turnover was 45.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.87 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.57 per cent higher in heavy trade, buoyed by merger and acquisition activity in the media and energy sectors.

The SP/ASX 200 closed up 34.1 points at 5,995. Turnover was heavy at 1.66 billion shares worth 8.97 billion dollars (7.23 billion US) were traded.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed slightly higher with late buying of blue chips.

Dealers said Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Press Holdings led the gains.

The Straits Times Index closed up 2.36 points at 3,231.24 on volume of 1.78 billion shares worth 1.87 billion dollars (1.24 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.89 per cent higher led by blue chips and property stocks, with the gains also seen as a technical rebound after a mid-week sell-off.

The composite index gained 10.98 points to 1,246.87. Volume traded was2.8 billion shares worth 2.9 billion ringgit (838.2 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Shares prices closed 0.73 per cent higher, buoyed by strong corporate results and hopes the government will release data showing a pullback in inflation.

The composite index closed up 13.205 points at 1,830.924 on volume of 2.40 billion shares valued at 3.11 trillion rupiah (340.58 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.13 per cent lower in a low key finish to the quarter.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 5.41 points to 4,107.14 on turnover worth 192.2 million dollars (137.2 million US).

The focus was on an announcement by Port of Tauranga which called off talks for a possible merger with Ports of Auckland. It accused Auckland Regional Holdings, the owner of Ports of Auckland, of dithering over whether a merger was worth undertaking.Port of Tauranga shares fell 20 cents to 6.10 dollars.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed up 0.71 per cent as buying picked up in mid and small-cap stocks following data showing lower than forecast inflation.

Dealers said sentiment also improved on bargain-hunting and a smooth rollover of most stock positions to the next futures market contract which began Friday.

Dealers said the India's central bank could raise rates next month after India's inflation rate held steady at 6.46 per cent for the week ended March 17, below analysts' forecasts of 6.5 per cent.The RBI will decide full-year monetary policy on April 24.

The markets saw bargain-hunting in mid and small-cap stocks. Liquidity and inflation concerns weigh over the medium term which could pull the market down, said Maonoj Kakaiya, a dealer with brokerage ULJK Securities.—AFP