December 28, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 17, 1428

HONG KONG, Dec 27: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday with buying emerging as investors and traders moved to consolidate positions and window dress ahead of year’s end.

A firmer tone on Wall Street added some positive sentiment to trade but investors remained concerned over the state of the US economy and the impact that slow down there could have on Asian exporters.

Volumes were also thin as many remained out of the markets amid the holiday season and this resulted in Tokyo falling 0.57 per cent while Hong Kong shed 1.02 per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended a four-session winning streak as investors opted to take profits amid ongoing nervousness about the outlook for the US economy.

But dealers said activity was muted, with many foreign investors away for the year-end holidays.

The Nikkei-225 index fell 88.85 points to 15,564.69. Volume traded dropped to 1.37 billion shares from 1.39 billion shares on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 1.02 per cent lower as investors locked in profits in mainland banks and some local property firms after a two-day Christmas break. The Hang Seng Index closed down 285.87 points at 27,842.93. Turnover was low at 76.60 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.82 billion US).

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 0.4 per cent, amid activity in resources stocks as Rio Tinto again rebuffed BHP Billiton’s takeover bid.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 27.3 points at 6,350.9 on volume of 746.5 million shares worth 2.44 billion Australian dollars (2.14 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed flat in lacklustre trading in a holiday-shortened week.

The Straits Times Index was 3.99 points higher at 3,477.2 on volume of 1.18 billion shares worth 1.08 billion Singapore dollars (750 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed up 1.0 per cent in thin trade as investors bought palm oil-related plantation stocks.

The composite index was up 13.8 points at 1,437.82. Volume was 839.78 million shares, valued at 1.45 billion ringgit (433 million dollars).

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed higher as some fund managers bought major stocks to boost their portfolios before closing their books at the end of the year.

The Jakarta composite index closed up 25.16 points at 2,739.70 on volume of 3.65 billion shares worth 5.21 trillion rupiah (553.2 million dollars).

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.24 per cent higher, but in subdued trading after the two-day Christmas holiday.

Dealers said shortly after opening the market was down eight points before recovering as the day progressed. The NZX-50 index gained 9.93 points to 4,068.63 on turnover worth 35.91 million dollars (26.85 million US).

MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 0.12 per cent with overseas funds the main buyers as domestic investors stayed on the sidelines due to concerns about US growth prospects. The 30-share Sensex index rose 24.2 points to 20,216.71.

Sporadic overseas fund buying saw modest gains for the market with the next trigger the quarterly earnings season that kicks-off in early January, said a dealer with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.—AFP