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HONG KONG, Sept 7: Asian stocks closed mixed on Friday with investors focussing on local issues and consolidating their positions ahead of the release of key economic data in the United States.
US employment data due later in the day along with other data due next week are expected to provide a broader picture of the US economy and the extent of damage caused by recent troubles in that country’s mortgage sector.
Investors are also looking for indications over whether the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later in the month.
Sydney rose 0.4 per cent, Wellington was up 0.29 per cent, Singapore gained 0.66 per cent and Jakarta was up 0.28 per cent. Malaysia gained 0.50 per cent, after trade the government announced corporate tax breaks in its latest budget.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 0.83 per cent as investors turned cautious ahead of a key US employment report, awaiting fresh leads on the fallout from credit market turmoil.
Dealers said players opted to lock in gains from Thursday’s rally amid ongoing concerns about the fallout from the US housing slump.
The Nikkei-225 index dropped 134.84 points to 16,122.16. Turnover fell to 1.59 billion shares from 2.10 billion shares on Thursday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed lower, down 0.28 per cent, as China Mobile saw heavy profit-taking, ahead of its impending weighting cut on the benchmark index.
Dealers said Hong Kong’s index compiler Hang Seng Index Services is adding Bank of Communications (BoComm) to HSI members from Monday, taking the number of constituents making up the benchmark index to 40.
The move will result in China Mobile’s weighting being cut to 12.25 per cent from 17.19 per cent, while HSBC’s weighting will drop to 15 per cent from 18.23 per cent. China Mobile was down 2.50 dollars at 101.0 in Friday’s trade.
Mainland banks recovered from early weakness and ended higher after China’s latest hike in its reserve requirement ratio, dealers added.
China’s central bank announced late Thursday that it is raising the reserve requirement for commercial banks by half a per centage point, effective September 25, the seventh such move this year.
China oil firms helped limit the market’s downside as they posted strong gains on the back of surging crude oil prices and some broker upgrades.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 67.79 points at 23,982.61. Turnover was 109.06 billion Hong Kong dollars (13.99 billion US).
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed up 0.4 per cent, bolstered by the resources sector amid rumours concerning a possible takeover bid involving BHP Billiton for rival Rio Tinto.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 27.4 points at 6,278.4. Trading was thin with 1.84 billion shares worth 3.31 billion Australian dollars (2.74 billion US) changing hands.
Australian resource and commodity stocks have been the key drivers of the market today, said CMC Markets dealer Matthew Lewis.
Both BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto hit six-week highs after a strong performance in their UK-based listings overnight. Base metals were also strong, with copper, zinc and nickel prices all advancing. A total of 706 stocks closed up with 496 closing down, while 333 stocks were unchanged.
BHP ended up 85 Australian cents at a record close of 39.75 dollars.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.66 per cent higher Friday on continued bargain-hunting in select stocks with firm fundamentals.
Dealers said the gains followed Wall Street’s latest advance after US data suggested consumer spending, and the overall economy, is withstanding credit and housing troubles.
The Straits Times Index rose 22.91 points to 3,488.97 on volume of 3.15 billion shares worth 2.20 billion dollars (1.44 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed up 0.5 per cent as investors anticipated the government’s 2008 budget would contain corporate breaks, dealers said.
The composite index closed up 6.05 points at 1,304.90.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.9 per cent higher led by Telkom and select mining companies on expectations of stronger second half earnings.
Dealers said higher realised domestic and foreign investment numbers also added to the positive sentiment which underpinned gains.
The composite index closed up 19.12 points at 2,239.90 on volume of 7.15 billion shares valued at 3.30 trillion rupiah (350.95 million dollars).
Actual domestic and foreign direct investments (FDI) in Indonesia during the first eight months of the year rose 123 per cent from a year earlier to 11.70 billion US dollars, the government announced Friday.
Concerns over the subprime problems in the US, which have been driving the selling pressure in recent weeks, appear to have subsided, BNI Securities analyst Muhammad Alfatih said.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices rose 0.29 per cent in cautious trading.
The NZX-50 index gained 11.88 points to close at 4,151.98 on light turnover worth 101.6 million dollars (70.3 million US).
People are still apprehensive in general, so I think markets are just bobbing along quietly,” said David Price of Forsyth Barr.
The recent financial reporting season was largely in line with expectations, but the outlook was soft, he said.
Discount retailer The Warehouse rose 14 cents to 5.88 dollars on news of a special dividend of 35 cents a share totalling 109 million dollars.
I think you can guess by the reaction that clearly it wasn’t expected by the market, Price said.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 0.17 per cent on mixed Asian market trends as investors locked in gains.
Dealers said the markets posted modest losses as investors chose not to build up fresh positions ahead of the weekend.
The 30-share Sensex fell 25.89 points to 15,590.42.
The markets were choppy as investors chose to trim positions at higher levels.
The markets may hit record highs next week on expectations of positive quarterly earnings, said Manoj Kakaiya, dealer at brokerage ULJK Securities.—AFP
