October 24, 2007	Wednesday	Shawwal 11, 1428

HONG KONG, Oct 23: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday with investors staging a technical rebound after overnight gains on Wall Street offered some respite from the latest sell-off.

However, trade remained volatile and advances in major benchmarks were less than convincing as sentiment continued to be stymied by near record oil prices and clouded prospects for the United States economy.

Dealers said the extent of recent falls almost demanded bargain hunting in select stocks, particularly after the price of oil eased and improved profit results were released in New York overnight.

Mumbai grabbed the lion’s share of attention with a 4.99 percent jump after the government qualified its position on curbs to derivative trades. Hong Kong rose a hefty 3.5 percent and Shanghai advanced 1.87 percent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices rebounded slightly as a modest overnight rally on Wall Street helped to restore some calm to the market a day after it hit a near one-month low.

But dealers said investors were nervous about the uncertain outlook for the economy and corporate earnings, with a slew of major Japanese companies set to report interim results later this week.

The Nikkei-225 index closed up 12.11 points or 0.07 percent at 16,450.58.

Turnover dropped to 1.46 billion shares from 1.9 billion on Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices jumped back 3.5 per cent, as strong gains in China Mobile and mainland banks helped the market recover most of Monday’s record losses.

The Hang Seng index closed up 1,003.23 points at 29,376.86. Turnover was at 135.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$15.51 bn).

BoComm outperformed ahead of its results announcement next week, with the stock also benefiting from renewed speculation that HSBC is seeking to raise its stake in the mainland lender.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed 1.3 per cent higher after bargain hunters stepped into the market following Monday’s sell-off.

The S&P/ASX 200 gained 83.6 points to regain most of the previous day’s losses. Volume amounted to 1.65 billion shares worth 6.35 billion dollars (5.58 billion US).

ANZ, which is expected to deliver an 11 percent increase in year to September net profit on Thursday, closed up 46 cents at 31.21 dollars.

National Australia Bank gained 68 cents to $41.25.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.45 per cent higher, rebounding from heavy losses a day earlier.The Straits Times Index closed up 52.66 points at 3,695.30. Volume was 2.08 billion shares worth 2.80 billion dollars (1.91 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.5 per cent higher following the rise on Wall Street overnight and then gains in regional markets.

The composite index was up 6.52 points to 1,357.33 on volume of 5 billion shares worth 1.5 billion ringgit (445 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Jakarta share prices closed 4.1 per cent higher on a technical rebound following the sharp sell-off a day earlier, aided by rallies in some regional markets.

The composite index closed up 100.59 points at 2,553.80. Volume was 4.86 billion shares worth 5.89 trillion rupiah ($644.07 million).

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.97 per cent lower, mirroring an earlier fall in global stock markets.

The NZX-50 index ended 41.63 points down at 4,274.69 on turnover worth 147.75 million dollars (110.03 million US).

MUMBAI: Indian share prices surged 4.99 per cent as investors cheered a move by the market regulator that eases concerns about a proposal to limit buying by overseas investors.

Near-term concerns of a regulatory move to limit capital controls vanished, said Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director with Tata Mutual Fund.—AFP