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HONG KONG, Aug 7: Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday with investors failing to match an overnight rally on Wall Street, which provided some relief from the latest round of harsh selling.
Gains were also limited by investors taking to the wings ahead of a US Federal Reserve decision on interest rates later in the day and dealers added that fears surrounding the US sub-prime mortgage industry were far from over.
The Fed being is widely tipped to leave rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent while investors are still anxious over sub-prime lending in the US where substantial losses have punished global markets since late July.
Sydney surged 1.1 per cent while Shanghai struck another record close with a 0.50 per cent gain. Wellington was up 1.48 per cent, Seoul rose 0.30 per cent and Manila gained 2.8 per cent while Mumbai was up 0.20 per cent.
TOKYO: Japanese shares closed narrowly mixed as investors took a cautious stance, waiting to hear the Federal Reserve's assessment of recent problems in US credit markets.
The Nikkei-225 index rose 7.31 points to 16,921.77. Turnover rose to 2.04 billion shares, up from 1.99 billion Monday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.13 per cent lower as profit-taking in highly volatile trade wiped out the day's gains, triggered earlier by Wall Street's overnight rally.
The bourse was also weighed down by caution among investors who took to the sidelines to await the outcome of the US Federal Reserve meeting later Tuesday, for indications on what the US would do to avert a worsening credit crunch.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed 1.1 per cent higher as bargain-hunters entered the market following a posit
The more optimistic outlook was underpinned by the Australian economy's strong fundamentals, they added.The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 64.8 points at 5,985.0. Volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 5.4 billion (4.6 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.21 per cent lower as the troubled US sub-prime mortgage market continued to hurt sentiment.
The Straits Times Index dropped 6.98 points to 3,302.01 on volume of 2.5 billion shares worth 2.4 billion Singapore dollars (1.59 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed flat after investors sold into strength with concerns over the US sub-prime mortgage market remaining.
The composite index dropped 0.77 points at 1,290.13 on volume of 1.251 billion shares valued at 1.954 billion ringgit.
TA Investment Management chief investment officer Choo Swee Kee said he expects the market to remain highly volatile over the short-term and investor sentiment is likely to continue to be dictated by the performance of US markets.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.70 per cent lower with investors cautious ahead of the US Fed Reserve meeting later in the day and ongoing concern over the US sub-prime credit woes.
Dealers said the market was also wary ahead of tomorrow's election of a new governor in the capital city Jakarta.
The central bank's decision keeping the benchmark BI rate unchanged at 8.25 per cent had little impact on sentiment as the move had been widely expected.
The composite index closed down 15.04 points at 2,174.07 on volume of 7.79 billion shares valued at 4.62 trillion rupiah (494.91 million dollars).
Eurocapital Peregrine Securities analyst Poltak Hotradero said the market opened higher on a technical rebound following the recovery on Wall Street overnight.
“Investors, however, opted to unload shares in the afternoon session as they were still concerned about the debt market problems in the US and on caution ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting later tonight,” Hotradero said.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.48 per cent higher following a strong recovery on Wall Street.The NZX-50 index rose 61.05 points to 4,136.24 on turnover worth 131.6 million dollars (100.5 million US).
Market leader Telecom rose three cents to 4.38 dollars, recovering some ground after losses on Friday's annual results.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 10 cents at 3.50 dollars and Fisher & Paykel Appliances added one cent at 3.57.
There is still good momentum in the Fisher & Paykel companies,” said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose a slight 0.20 per cent , in volatile trade ahead of a US federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.
Dealers said trading would remain cautious until the central bank's stance on interest rates and the troubled US home loan market are clear.
The 30-share Sensex index rose 29.74 points to 14,932.77.
An absence of fresh overseas buying has kept investors jittery. The global trends remain unclear at this stage, said a dealer with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.—AFP
