May 18, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 01, 1428

HONG KONG, May 17: Asian stocks closed higher on Thursday, extending gains on the back of another record finish on Wall Street after the latest data on the key US housing market gave sentiment a boost, dealers said.

They said the housing and a series of other figures suggested the US economy, the ultimate market for the region's exporters, was steadying after a sharp first quarter slowdown, giving investors every reason to continue buying.

Buoyant merger and acquisition activity has kept the momentum going in global equities, meaning investors coming late to the market have to run to catch up, adding to the upward pressure on prices.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 0.17 per cent lower as investors pocketed early gains after first quarter growth figures came in weaker-than-expected, dealers said.

They said Sony led tech stocks higher after the electronics giant forecast that net profits would more than double in the current year to March 2008.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index of leading shares dropped 30.40 points at 17,498.60. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 4.62 points or 0.27 per cent at 1,707.27.Decliners outnumbered gainers 926 to 653, with 146 stocks flat.

Volume fell to 2.03 billion shares from 2.18 billion on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices rose 0.27 per cent for a record finish as properties and other large-caps advanced in late trade on hopes they would benefit from any further relaxation of Beijing's limits on mainland investment overseas, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 57.35 points at 20,994.61, topping the previous record close of 20,979.24 set on Monday. The day's high was 21,084.23 and the low 20,944.15. Turnover was 62.48 billion dollars (8.0 billion US dollars).

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 1.13 per cent at a record high, with investors buoyed by the overnight rally on Wall Street and buying major resource and banking stocks, dealers said.The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 71.3 points at 6,365.9, beating the May 10 record finish of 6,355.5. The broader All Ordinaries index climbed 69.0 points to settle at 6,370.1, also surpassing its previous record close of 6,351.8 set on May 10.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares powered to a fresh all-time high following Wall Street's record-breaking lead, dealers said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.51 per cent higher Thursday after a volatile session, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 6.96 points at 1,359.37. Volume was 1.06 billion shares worth 2.09 billion ringgit (614 million dollars). Losers led gainers 511 to 369, with 295 stocks unchanged.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices rose 1.13 per cent to a record high after investors welcomed business tax cuts announced in the government's budget, dealers said.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced the corporate tax rate would be cut to 30 per cent from 33 per cent starting in April next year.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 48.11 points to 4,275.57 on turnover worth 127.6 million dollars (93.6 million US). Rises outnumbered falls 65 to 26.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 1.22 per cent higher, moving up on strong global trends and fresh buying in banking and software stocks, dealers said.

They said there was good support for index stocks, with investors hopeful that the local rate hike cycle was nearing an end.—AFP