January 25, 2008	Friday	Muharram 15, 1429

HONG KONG, Jan 24: Asian shares closed mostly up Thursday on hopes a global stocks rout is over after a US interest rate cut, but a stunning $7.15-billion fraud at Societe Generale stung investor sentiment.

The French banking giant said a single rogue trader had carried out the massive fraud -- one of the biggest in the finance industry.

The bank also announced a loss of about $2.9 billion due to the US subprime mortgage crisis and that it had carried out a 5.5-billion-dollar capital increase.

The news broke later Thursday after most Asian stock markets had rallied on hopes Tuesday's surprise 75 basis points US interest rate cut, and the prospect of more measures to boost the ailing US economy, would support stock prices.

Tokyo close up just over two per cent, Sydney was up a little over three per cent and Shanghai edged up 0.31 per cent. All Asia's major markets rose except for Hong Kong and Mumbai, which both fell around two per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 2.06 per cent, regaining the symbolic 13,000-point line, as a rebound on Wall Street raised hopes that a sharp slump on global markets was over, dealers said.

The relative stability of the dollar after the Federal Reserve's hefty rate cut this week also supported shares on Asia's largest bourse. Japanese exporters benefit from a stronger dollar against the yen.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index ended up 263.72 points at 13,092.78, two days after slipping below the 13,000-point mark for the first time since September 2005.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 2.3 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 550.90 points to 23,539.27. Turnover was 142.4 billion Hong Kong dollars (18.21 billion US dollars).

Investors are still very nervous and any bad news from the US or Europe is enough reason for them to sell, he said.

HSBC fell 0.80 to 115.40. China Mobile lost 4.20 at 116.10 and China Life was down 1.05 at 30.90.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 3.1 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 168.1 points at 5,580.4. It has risen 7.5 per cent in the past two days, after plunging 7.1 per cent on Tuesday.

The broader All Ordinaries index closed up 160.2 points or 2.9 per cent at 5,605.8.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 2.23 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times index rose 66.47 points to 3,050.09 on volume of 2.42 billion shares worth 3.41 billion Singapore dollars (2.38 billion US).

Rising issues led decliners 594 to 288, with 887 stocks unchanged.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed up 2.1 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed up 28.87 points at 1,383.35, off a high of 1,409.93.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices finished 1.6 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed up 40.42 points at 2,516.7.

The market has been purely driven by positive momentum on Wall Street and the region, which seems to be temporary, said Alif Sasetyo, an analyst at Samuel Securities.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.20 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 43.32 points to 3,658.61.

New Zealand's central bank said Thursday it was leaving interest rates unchanged.

Telecom rose four cents to 4.03 dollars, Fletcher Building rose 15 cents to 10.10 and Contact Energy gained 17 cents to 7.37.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 2.12 per cent down, dealers said.

The benchmark Sensex index fell 372.33 points to 17,221.74.

Investors booked profit on concern that global equities could slip again, said a dealer with broker Prabhudas Lilladher. —AFP