October 31, 2007	Wednesday	Shawwal 18, 1428

HONG KONG, Oct 30: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday with investors consolidating their postions after a recent bout of heavy buying on a widely expected cut in US interest rates.

The US central bank will meet later Tuesday and on Wednesday, and is widely expected to trim the federal funds rate by at least 25 basis points to contain the fallout from the troubled US housing sector.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices took a breather as investors took a cautious stance on the eve of a key US interest rate decision.

The Nikkei-225 index fell 47.07 points to 16,651.01. Volume rose to 2.3 billion shares from 1.8 billion Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat, up 0.16 per cent, pushing the key index to its fourth straight record finish, as China stocks offset losses in the local property sector.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices fell 0.6 per cent as profit-taking saw the market retreat from recent record highs.

The SP/ASX200 index closed down 41.9 points at 6,750.2. Market volume was 1.63bn shares worth about $5.9bn (US$5.43bn).

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.6 per cent lower as investors pocketed gains ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting to decide on US interest rates.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed up 0.1 pc, with the key index inching to a fresh high as gains in plantation firms offset profit-taking in other stocks.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.2 pc lower with the main index giving up record-breaking gains as index heavyweight Telkom was sold off after its nine-month earnings disappointed investors.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed barely changed Tuesday following a mixed performance by leading stocks.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 0.97 pc after the central bank sought to curtail money supply growth by raising the amount of cash banks must set aside as reserves.—AFP