April 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 06, 1428

HONG KONG, April 23: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday with investors cheered by a record performance on Wall Street however overall gains were whittled back by profit taking.

Shanghai returned to record territory with a 3.53 per cent surge but jitters over a widely expected tightening of monetary policy on the mainland weighed on sentiment elsewhere with Hong Kong and Tokyo closing flat.

Sydney was also little changed while remaining benchmarks closed off their highs with profit taking winning out in late trade, also on the back of recent sharp gains that pushed many markets into record territory.

Jakarta was among the best on the day with a 0.91 per cent rise to a record close. Singapore was up 0.83 per cent, Kuala Lumpur advanced 0.46 per cent, Seoul was 0.74 per cent higher and Taipei gained 0.85 per cent.

TOKYO: Share prices closed little changed as a stronger yen unsettled nervous investors ahead of the domestic corporate results season.

The Nikkei-225 index inched up 2.75 points at 17,455.37. Volume rose to 1.90 billion shares from 1.79 billion Friday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat as a sharp drop in large-cap China Mobile negated early gains driven by Wall Street's record finish on Friday.

The market also took note of a flat finish on the Tokyo bourse after early gains.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 10.02 points at 20,556.57. Turnover was 50.55 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.5 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices closed flat after trading in and out of positive territory as profit-taking in leading bank stocks was offset by support for the top miners.

The market has been on a record-breaking run recently and could be in for some consolidation but underlying sentiment remains positive, with the economic fundamentals looking good, they added.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.83 per cent higher on investor optimism that key corporations will report strong earnings growth in the first quarter to March.

The Straits Times Index rose 27.81 points to 3,388.48 on volume of 4.1 billion shares, worth 2.15 billion Singapore dollars (US$1.43 billion).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed or 0.46 per cent higher in volatile trade after profit-taking capped gains inspired by Wall Street's record closing last Friday.

Dealers said late buying of select counters supported the market, but there were signs emerging that the local bourse was headed for a consolidation in the absence of fresh leads.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.91 per cent higher with follow-through interest in blue chips lifting the main index to a new record high.

The composite index closed up 17.996 points at 1,986.727.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.45 per cent higher, following the record close on Wall Street at the end of last week.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 18.73 points to 4,201.64 on light turnover worth 90.9 million dollars (67.7 million US).

Market leader Telecom rose six cents to 4.96 dollars. Late in the session, Australian telco PowerTel said its shareholders had approved Telecom's 320 million Australian dollar (267.0 million US) takeover.

Telecom has said it planned to merge its poorly performing AAPT unit with PowerTel to help it compete in the tough Australian market.

MUMBAI: Share prices rose 0.22 per cent led by overseas and domestic funds buoyed by solid earnings reported by blue chip companies for the quarter ended March.

Dealers said the market was only held back by some uncertainty over whether India's central bank would keep key interest rates steady as expected at a quarterly monetary policy review on Tuesday.—AFP