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HONG KONG, May 10: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday buoyed by another record close on Wall Street after the United States Federal Reserve kept interest rates at current levels.
The central bank, in a widely anticipated decision, said it had opted to keep its fed funds rate firmly pegged at 5.25 per cent resulting in New York posting another record close.
Shanghai, Wellington, Sydney, Seoul and Jakarta also notched-up their highest closing levels ever while Taipei was up 0.55 per cent, Singapore gained 0.48 per cent, Kuala Lumpur rose 0.35 per cent and Bangkok gained 0.13 per cent.
However, Tokyo and Mumbai closed flat while modest losses due to profit taking were registered in Hong Kong and Manila.
TOKYO: Share prices ended marginally lower as investors took profits despite another record high overnight on Wall Street.
The Nikkei-225 index closed down 11.16 points at 17,736.96. Volume rose to 2.49 billion shares from 2.44 billion on Wednesday.
Dealers said early gains sparked by Wall Street's advance overnight were wiped out by the close as players took profit on stocks that announced conservative earnings outlooks.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.47 per cent lower led by property stocks and some blue chips after comments by the US Federal Reserve dampened hopes for an early interest rate cut.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 98.51 points at 20,746.27. Turnover was 60.53 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.76 billion US).
SYDNEY: Share prices rose 0.23 per cent, chalking up another record finish as strong jobs figures outweighed falls in resources when a rumoured BHP Billiton takeover bid for Rio Tinto failed to materialise.
The SP/ASX 200 closed up 14.5 points to 6,355.5. Turnover was 2.02 billion shares worth 7.56 billion dollars (6.27 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.48 per cent higher following another record finish on Wall Street, but late profit taking put a lid on gains.
The Straits Times Index climbed 16.54 points to 3,469.26 on volume of 2.71 billion shares, worth 2.21 billion Singapore dollars (1.46 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.35 per cent higher in a mixed market, with bargain hunting of select index stocks offsetting negative sentiment over the Transmile issue.
The composite index was up 4.78 points at 1,355.62. Volume traded was 1.36 billion shares valued at 2.86 billion ringgit (841.18 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.44 per cent higher with gains in car dealer Astra International and some banks helping to lift the main index to a new record closing high.
The composite index closed up 9.053 points at 2,047.031. Volume was 4.11 billion shares worth 3.99 trillion rupiah (456.26 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 0.45 per cent to hit a record close for the third straight day, led higher by market leader Telecom.
The NZX-50 gross index added 19.07 points to 4,251.40 on turnover worth 157.4 million dollars (115.5 million US). Rises outnumbered falls 52 to 48.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed marginally lower after the markets opened strong following a decision by the US Federal Reserve to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
The Mumbai Sensex index closed down 10.23 points to 13,771.23.—AFP
