June 12, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1428

HONG KONG, June 11: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday with investors gaining some confidence after a rebound in the United States equity market at the end of last week.

Wall Street staged a strong rebound Friday after a three-day drubbing on fears of interest rate hikes, and this helped improve sentiment ahead of the release of US economic data due out later in the week.

Those gains and an upgrade for Japanese growth forecasts helped Tokyo to post a 0.31 per cent rise. Singapore outperformed with a 1.54 per cent advance, Jakarta surged 1.44 per cent and Wellington was up 0.52 per cent.

TOKYO: Share prices ended with modest gains after a strong rebound on Wall Street Friday and an upgrade to Japan's first-quarter economic growth.

But dealers said shares closed off the day's highs after a generally lackluster session marked by uncertainty about the prospects for global interest rates.

The Nikkei-225 index added 55.39 points to 17,834.48. Turnover fell to 2.08 billion shares from 3.45 billion on Friday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent higher on strong gains in property and Chinese telecom stocks.

Dealers said investor sentiment was lifted by a strong rebound on Wall Street on Friday, but noted that the market was kept in check due to caution ahead of key inflation data in China and the United States this week.

Renewed speculation over the issue of third-generation (3G) licences on the mainland boosted telecoms stocks, with property stocks providing additional support ahead of a government land auction Tuesday.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 106.34 points at 20,615.49. Turnover was 55.91 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.16 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.54 per cent higher as investor confidence surged after Wall Street rebounded strongly at the end of last week.

Dealers said the market was poised to gain in strength with the local economy growing strongly amid a property upswing.

The Straits Times Index (STI) rose 53.87 points to 3,545.46 on volume of 4.56 billion shares worth 2.42 billion Singapore dollars (1.58 billion US).

Strong demand for both residential and office properties, recovery in the construction sector, and the booming tourism industry continue to underpin the local economy and the STI, DBS Bak said.

Singapore Telecommunications gained 0.08 to 3.52.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.39 per cent higher with property stocks posting strong gains amid a strong rebound on Wall Street at the end of last week.

The composite index was up 5.27 points at 1,357.66 on volume of 1.484 billion shares valued at 2.092 billion ringgit (603 million dollars).

Chan Ken Yew, investment analyst at OSK Securities, said local investor sentiment improved slightly after Wall Street rebounded last week.

The bourse failed to sustain at the 1,365 points level, indicating that the market has yet to emerge from its consolidation mode, he said.

Tenaga rose 0.10 ringgit to 11.50.

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.52 per cent higher after the central bank intervened to force the local currency lower in an otherwise directionless day.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 22.07 points to 4,205.52 on light turnover worth 62.4 million dollars (47.0 million US).

“A slight easing in the currency may have helped sentiment towards the end of the day,” said Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs.

Fletcher Building rose 26 cents to 12.76 dollars.

MUMBAI: Share prices edged up 0.14 per cent in volatile trade led by strong regional markets, shedding morning gains as investors locked-in profits.

Dealers said real estate stocks rose due to a strong opening on Monday for India's biggest initial share sale from real estate developer DLF.

The 30-share Sensex rose 19.6 points to 14,083.41.

The markets opened strong but fell-off on profit booking. We see distinctly weak and choppy trends ahead, said Atul Hatwar, dealer with brokerage Crosseas Securities.

DLF plans to sell 175 million shares at a price band of 500-550 rupees ($12.5 to 13.75), constituting a 10.26 per cent stake sale.

—AFP