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HONG KONG, Sept 20: Asian stocks closed higher on Thursday with investors extending a rally sparked after the United States Federal Reserve slashed interest rates earlier in the week.
However, gains were milder than those notched-up immediately after the 50 basis point cut was announced late Tuesday with Tokyo typical of the region with a 0.2 per cent gain on the day.
Concerns over subprime issues also provided an undercurrent to trade with British bank Northern Rock, widely seen as the latest victim in the crisis.
Defaults on subprime mortgages, made to risky borrowers, have raised fears of a credit crunch and wreaked havoc on international markets.
In the latest move the Bank of England has announced a 20 billion dollar capital injection into longer-term money markets in the wake of runs on Northern Rock.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended narrowly mixed as investors took a breather after the previous day’s strong rally sparked by a hefty US interest rate cut.
Dealers said investors took profits after early gains sparked by another solid performance on Wall Street overnight on hopes that the US rate cut will buoy the US economy and stock market.
The Nikkei-225 index closed up 32.25 points at 16,413.79. Turnover climbed to 1.9bn shares from 1.8 billion shares on Wednesday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed at a fresh record high as banks gained on hopes of higher loan growth following interest rate cuts.
Dealers said metals, mining and oil stocks also rose on strong global commodity prices.
China stocks overall were supported by speculation that Beijing might start the program for direct purchases of Hong Kong stocks by mainland individuals soon, with some traders hoping that an announcement could be made around China’s October 1 week-long holiday.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 146.49 points at 25,701.13. Turnover was 118.91 billion Hong Kong dollars (15.24bn US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.2 per cent lower in cautious trade as investors locked in profits from recent gains in select blue chips and property stocks.
The Straits Times Index fell 41.90 points to settle at 3,552.46. Volume totalled 1.91bn shares valued at 2.50 billion Singapore dollars (1.67 billion US).
JAKARTA: Jakarta share prices closed 0.4 per cent lower as investors moved to cash in gains after the market’s strong rally a day earlier.
The composite index closed down 8.71 points at 2,304.63. Volume was 5.35 billion shares valued at 4.87 trillion rupiah (531.37 million dollars).
MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 0.15 per cent to a second straight record close a day after a record surge in reaction to the US Federal Reserve rate cut.
Dealers said market sustained Wednesday’s gain, its sharpest single day rise at 4.17pc, on expectations that overseas funds will continue to invest in Indian equities.
The Sensex index rose 25.2 points to 16,347.95.—AFP
