March 13, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1429

HONG KONG, March 12: Asian stocks rose sharply on Wednesday after the US and other central banks triggered a Wall Street surge by agreeing a huge cash injection into ailing credit markets.

Japanese share prices closed up 1.6 per cent, Australian shares ended the day 2.4 per cent higher, Singapore was up two per cent and South Korea rose 1.1 per cent. Hong Kong jumped a little under two per cent.

The central banks moved Tuesday to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to ease a global credit squeeze threatening a US-led world economic slowdown.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 1.60 per cent following a powerful rally on Wall Street after major central banks pumped cash into stressed financial markets, dealers said.

They said better-than-expected Japanese economic growth also lifted investors’ spirits, although shares ended off their highs amid concern the central bank action will not completely solve credit market problems.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 202.85 points to close at 12,861.13.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 19.98 points or 1.62 per cent to 1,255.13.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,226 to 415, with 84 issues unchanged.

Turnover fell to 2.04 billion shares from 2.37 billion shares on Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 1.9 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 427.41 points at 23,422.76 on turnover of 89.9 billion Hong Kong dollars (11.55 billion US dollars).

HSBC was up 1.87 per cent at 125.20. Bank of China jumped 2.9 per cent to $3.25.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed 2.4 per cent up, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 123.7 points at 5,257.9, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 123 points to 5,334.1.

Market volume was around 1.7 billion shares worth 7.0 billion dollars (6.5 billion US).

The market responded to the positive influences from the US overnight,said Andrew Sekely from Intersuisse.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 2.0 per cent higher, dealers said.

The main Straits Times Index closed up 57.09 points at 2,917.94 on volume of 1.62 billion shares worth 2.09 billion Singapore dollars (1.51 billion US).

DBS Group gained 52 cents to 17.34 dollars. CapitaLand was up 27 cents at 6.16 dollars. Singapore Telecommunications rose two cents to 3.83 dollars.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 2.2 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rose 26.05 points to close at 1,232.59.

The KLCI plunged 9.5 per cent on Monday following the ruling party’s stunning losses in the general election.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.3 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite index was up 32.71 points at 2,556.24.

Telkom gained 250 rupiah to 9,500. Bank Central Asia gained 125 to 3,525.

Perusahaan Gas Negara added 600 to 14,450.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed up 0.69 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 gross index rose 24.37 points to close at 3,544.83.

Fletcher Building rose eight cents higher to 9.08. Contact Energy rose 13 cents to $8.34. Auckland International Airport end down nine cents at $2.19.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed little changed, dealers said.

The Mumbai stock exchange Sensex index closed up 4.83 points or 0.03 per cent to 16,127.98.—AFP