June 27, 2007	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 11, 1428

HONG KONG, June 26: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday with investors tracking Wall Street and concerns over the potential impact of failed subprime mortgages in the US housing market.

Equities were roiled last week by the near-collapse of two hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns due to losses in the mortgage sector from troubled subprime loans to borrowers with poor credit records.

Those fears were renewed Monday as a Citigroup report highlighted downgrades of obligations of other investment firms, including from Goldman Sachs, while Wednesday's meeting of the US federal reserve also held investors back.

No change is expected in US interest rates, however, market players will focus on any comment regarding an outlook for the world's largest economy.

TOKYO: Share prices ended little changed as Wall Street's recent weak performance weighed on sentiment and investors turned cautious ahead of several key events.

Dealers noted the Tokyo market had fared better than Wall Street in recent sessions, supported by the weakness of the yen which is positive for exporters.

The Nikkei-225 index closed down 21.37 points at 18,066.11. Turnover fell to 1.76 billion shares from 1.93 billion on Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat in cautious trade ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting and on concerns over possible economic tightening measures in China.

Dealers said the market saw some profit-taking following recent sharp gains but the downside was limited by gains in select blue chips as fund managers spruce up portfolios ahead of closing of books for the first half of the year.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 18.78 points at 21,803.57. Turnover was 74.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.5 billion US).

The policies could temporarily impact on sentiment, but I see the measures having limited effect on H shares because... some investors may choose to transfer their mainland investments into Hong Kong, she said.

HSBC was down 0.10 at 144.10.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.33 per cent lower in lackluster trade with little in the way of fresh news to give the market direction.

Dealers said an indifferent showing on Wall Street overnight provided no lead while investors were also waiting for the US Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday-Thursday to see what the central bank has to say on the interest rate outlook.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 21.2 points at 6,308.6. Turnover was 2.03 billion shares worth 6.05 billion dollars (5.1 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.54 per cent lower as players turned cautious a day before the two-day US Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Straits Times Index closed down 55.23 points at 3,525.10 on volume of 3.89 billion shares worth 2.35 billion dollars (1.54 billion US).

This correction is quite healthy but 3,500 points should hold as a support for the index,” said a local brokerage dealer who declined to be named.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.74 per cent lower due to profit-taking after investor sentiment took a hit from a weak Wall Street performance overnight.

Dealers said investors also adopted a cautious stance ahead of the start of the latest US Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting Wednesday.

JAKARTA: Share prices closed little changed, in volatile trade, with investors generally cautious ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday.

Dealers said gains in major stocks including Perusahaan Gas Negara, Telkom and Astra International, helped offset some profit taking in smaller stocks.

The composite index closed up 1.339 points at 2,153.542. Volume was 4.01 billion shares valued at 4.23 trillion rupiah (465.60 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.44 per cent lower, falling for the fourth consecutive session in the absence of any market leads.

The benchmark NZX-50 index was down 18.88 points at 4,252.03 on turnover worth 127.25 million dollars (96.86 million US).

I think the market's pretty much rangebound in the absence of any real news flow, said Matt Willis of ABN Amro Craigs.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed flat in choppy trade as global markets remained weak ahead of a monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve this week.

The 30-share Sensex index rose 13.36 points to 14,501.08.

Investors preferred to sell shares ahead of the crucial US Fed meeting.

The Indian market will track global trends, said a dealer with brokerage Jamnadas Morarjee.—AFP