October 10, 2007	Wednesday	Ramazan 27, 1428

HONG KONG, Oct 9: Asian stocks ignored a mixed performance by Wall Street overnight and closed mostly higher on Tuesday with investors focussing on domestic issues which drove many benchmarks to record closing highs.

Sydney, Seoul, Jakarta, Shanghai and Hong Kong all closed at record highs while in late trade Mumbai was also striking its best ever levels amid high expectations for second quarter earnings.

Tokyo typified the day with a 0.56 per cent rise after re-opening from a long weekend with investors catching-up with regional gains made on Monday.

Kuala Lumpur was up 0.4 per cent on bargain hunting in blue chips and Bangkok rose 0.51 percent ahead of a central bank decision on interest rates.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 0.56 per cent as jitters about the health of the US economy eased following last week’s better-than-expected US jobs data.

Dealers said a softer yen also boosted exporter shares as investors returned to their desks after a long weekend.

The Nikkei-225 index added 94.86 points to 17,159.90. Turnover rose to 1.70 billion shares from 1.65 billion shares on Friday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed up 1.65 per cent at a record high as property stocks drew interest on hopes the chief executive will boost demand for housing in his annual address.

Dealers said the market was also supported by late interest in Bank of Communications (BoComm) and gains in Cathay Pacific Airways amid lower crude oil prices.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 457.75 points at 28,228.04. Turnover was 129.05 billion Hong Kong dollars (16.63 billion US).

SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 0.4 per cent to a fresh record as a strong banking sector offset falls in resources.

The S&P/ASX 200 came back from a slow start to end up 23.5 points at an all-time high of 6,677.8. Turnover was light, with 1.6 billion shares worth about six billion dollars (5.4 billion US) changing hands.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed at another all-time high, rising 1.2 per cent on gains in select blue-chips.The Straits Times Index closed 45.44 points up at 3,865.75. Volume totalled 3.0 billion shares worth 2.36 billion Singapore dollars (1.61 billion US).

Trading activities are quieter and the focus is on blue-chips, said Chan Tuck Sing, head of dealing at UOB Kay Hian.

Chan said some of the blue-chips are running up on expectations of good earnings, while others are playing catch up on the index’s recent gains.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.4 per cent higher due to late bargain hunting in selected blue-chips.

Dealers said a strong finish in some regional markets helped lift investor sentiment but cautioned gains could be short-lived.

With the US market down, there’s really no incentives for investors to buy aggressively, Tee said. The composite index was up 5.25 points at 1,369.39. Volume was 1.7 billion shares valued at 1.9 billion ringgit (559 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices finished 0.9 per cent higher for a fourth straight session, as a liquidity-driven rally allowed the main index to continue its record-setting run.

Gains were capped by profit-taking in some blue chips, including state telecommunications firm Telkom.

The composite index closed up 22.91 points at 2,546.61. Volume was 4.36 billion shares worth 4.59 trillion rupiah (505.78 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices fell 0.35 per cent in mixed trading following a downbeat business confidence report.

The NZX-50 index fell 15.01 points to close at 4,280.24 on turnover worth 125.6 million dollars (95.6 million US).

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s quarterly survey of business confidence showed confidence was weak, although slightly improved from the previous quarter.—AFP