October 12, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 29, 1428

HONG KONG, Oct 11: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday with investors focussing on domestic issues, however, a mixed performance by Wall Street overnight limited gains.

Lackluster earnings news and Boeing’s problems in its Dreamliner program prompted US investors to lock in gains following a record-setting session and the Dow Jones fell 0.63 per cent.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta and Sydney also struck best ever finishes with Australian resource stocks supporting its benchmark. Bangkok was up 1.6 percent, its highest level since December 1996.

Wellington was up 0.39 percent and Taipei rose 0.60 percent on support for industrials. Kuala Lumpur rose 0.5 percent but profit taking from near record highs resulted in Manila bucking the trend, shedding 0.3 per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 1.64 per cent at a two-month high after the central bank refrained from hiking interest rates and Sony Corp’s newly listed financial arm made a solid debut.

Dealers said the market was also buoyed by a weaker yen and an upgrade to Japan’s domestic debt rating by Moody’s Investors Service.

The Nikkei-225 index gained 281.09 points to 17,458.98. Turnover climbed to 2.08 billion shares from 1.69 billion on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed up 1.9 per cent at another record high as strong gains in China financials, coal and oil saw the key index break the 29,000 point level.

Dealers said liquidity inflows due to China’s expanded qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) programme and a fresh high on the Shanghai bourse helped H-shares maintain their momentum.

The Hang Seng index closed up 563.69 points at 29,133.02.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 0.5 per cent at a record high for the fourth straight day Thursday as overseas investors bought leading resources stocks, dealers said.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 33.6 points at 6,771.9 points. Volume traded was a light 1.87 billion shares worth about 5.8 billion dollars (5.22 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.6 per cent higher with the benchmark returning to record highs on blue-chip buying amid strong economic growth.

The Straits Times Index closed up 61.32 points at 3,875.77. Volume totalled 2.81bn shares valued at 2.76bn Singapore dollars (1.89bn US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.5 per cent higher due to late buying of blue chips ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid.

Dealers said extended gains in plantation and mining stocks kept the key index in positive territory.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed up 6.68 points to 1,383.61. Volume was 1.5 billion shares valued at 1.9 billion ringgit (564 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Jakarta share prices closed 1.8 per cent higher, with the main index extending its rally for a sixth straight day and finishing at a record high.

The composite index closed up 46.73 points at 2,638.21. Volume was 4.93 billion shares worth 6.1 trillion rupiah (672.18 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.39 per cent higher but many investors stayed on the sidelines in light trading.

The NZX-50 index rose 16.82 points to 4,296.61 on turnover worth 85.2 million dollars (65.1 million US).

David Price of Forsyth Barr said the market gains were “relatively broad”, although market leader Telecom bucked the upward trend by falling four cents to 4.50 dollars.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 0.84 per cent in choppy trade hitting a new record close, despite unsurprising second quarter earnings growth from Indian software exporter Infosys.

Dealers said buying in capital goods, metals and property stocks propped up the markets, while software stocks fell.

The Sensex index rose 155.82 points to 18,814.07. Software stocks fell sharply as Infosys, which is struggling with a rising rupee, barely met analysts expectations.—AFP