October 25, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 12, 1428

HONG KONG, Oct 24: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday as fears over the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States returned to haunt regional markets, prompting a late bout of selling.

Benchmarks had been trading mixed after investors regained some confidence following a volatile sell-off, on the back of overnight gains on Wall Street.

But sentiment changed after the New York Times reported Merrill Lynch could write-down a further US$2.5 billion due to the credit crunch, on top of $5.0 billion already announced.

Tokyo shed 0.56 per cent, Seoul was off 0.8 per cent, Sydney was down 0.4 per cent, Taipei fell 0.63 per cent, Singapore slumped 1.25 per cent, Manila tumbled 1.79 per cent and Jakarta lost 1.1 per cent.

Hong Kong was down a mild 0.15 per cent while Shanghai again traded on domestic issues and rose 1.21 per cent. Wellington rose 0.38 per cent, Kuala Lumpur gained 0.2 per cent and Mumbai was little changed.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 0.56 per cent, giving up earlier gains as investors took a cautious stance ahead of earnings announcements and closely watched indicators.

The Nikkei-225 index closed down 92.19 points at 16,358.39. Volume traded rose to 1.77bn shares from 1.46bn on Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.15 per cent after an erratic session, as investors turned cautious ahead of economic data due from the mainland.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices fell 0.4 per cent on fears of a domestic interest rate rise and concerns about US economic growth in the wake of a credit crunch.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 26.5 points to 6,634.4. Turnover was 2.04 billion shares worth $7.29 billion (US$6.5 billion.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 1.25 per cent lower on worries over the continued fallout from a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.2 per cent higher amid caution across Asian markets on renewed concerns over troubles in the US subprime mortgage market.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.1 per cent lower on profit-taking as major regional markets surrendered early gains after fresh concerns about a credit crunch emerged.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices bounced back 0.38 pc Wednesday, a day after a 0.97 pc tumble, reflecting a similar turn around on world markets.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 0.11 per cent higher in volatile trade ahead of a regulatory meeting which will decide norms for unregistered foreign investors.—AFP