June 14, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 28, 1428

HONG KONG, June 13: Asian stocks closed lower on Wednesday after another sharp sell-off on Wall Street was sparked by rising bond yields and heightening fears of interest rate hikes.

The major catalyst for the US sell-down was the bond market which sent yields on 10-year bonds above 5.25 per cent in intraday trade, however, losses in Asia were limited compared with a near one per cent fall in New York.

Tokyo eased 0.16 per cent while Seoul was off 0.46 per cent, Sydney shed 0.95 per cent, Wellington was down 0.79 per cent, Singapore fell 0.29 per cent while Kuala Lumpur was down 0.55 per cent amid falls in palm oil futures.Elsewhere, Jakarta was down 0.95 per cent, Mumbai fell 0.91 per cent and Manila shed 0.76 per cent while Bangkok was the worst on the day with tumble of 2.26 per cent amid rising political tensions at home.

TOKYO: Share prices slipped lower following overnight losses on Wall Street as investors remained nervous about the prospect of higher global interest rates.

But dealers said shares finished off their low of the day as some bargain hunters emerged after the yen fell to the weakest level for four and a half years against the dollar, giving a boost to exporter earnings.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 28.14 points to 17,732.77. Turnover was 2.12 billion shares, up from 1.98 billion on Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent lower as falls in the US markets and the prospect of higher interest rates globally weighed on investors' minds.

Select local property stocks also recovered from early falls driven by rate worries and a disappointing government land auction, as liquidity remained strong in the market.

The Hang Seng Index was down 57.64 points at 20,578.75. Turnover was 55.18 billion dollars (7.06 billion US).

SYDNEY: Share prices fell 0.95 per cent following a negative offshore lead from New York amid fears global interest rates were set to rise.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed down 59.4 points at 6,180.7. Turnover was 1.78 billion shares worth 6.18 billion dollars (5.22 billion US).

CMC Markets' chief equity analyst David Land said the Australian bourse had reacted to the jump in bond yields overnight.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed down 0.29 per cent as players consolidated positions.

The Straits Times Index ended 10.32 points lower at 3,551.22 on volume of 4.28 billion shares worth 2.31 billion dollars (1.5 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.55 per cent lower with a sharp decline overnight on Wall Street weighing on sentiment.

The composite index lost 7.55 points to 1,353.03 and volume traded was 1.144 billion shares worth 1.897 billion ringgit (545.98 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.95 per cent lower pressured by falls on Wall Street overnight and subsequent losses in key East Asian markets.

The composite index closed down 19.979 points at 2,088.601, on volume of 3.77 billion shares valued at 2.82 trillion rupiah (310,47 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.79 per cent lower amid falls in overseas markets and caution over the direction of the local currency.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 32.99 points to 4,194.57 on light turnover worth 90.7 million dollars (68.0 million US).

MUMBAI: Share prices slipped 0.91 per cent as investors locked-in gains over concern that the central bank may raise interest rates in the face of fast economic growth.

The 30-share Sensex index fell 127.92 points to 14,003.03.—AFP