April 26, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1429

HONG KONG, April 25: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Friday but Japan bucked the trend by rising more than two per cent, aided by slightly better news about the struggling US economy.

The Tokyo bourse rose almost 2.4 per cent in the wake of a strong rally Thursday on Wall Street, where gains in the troubled banking sector suggested investors were betting the US economy would soon emerge from its malaise.

An unexpected decline in US jobless claims and better-than-expected quarterly earnings at Ford Motor Co. had boosted sentiment in America.

Japanese investors were also digesting a batch of earnings reports from major firms, including the likes of Toshiba, Honda and Sharp.

Investors are nervously waiting for key numbers next week, including US economic growth figures and more corporate earnings data. The US is also expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.

The American economy, the world’s largest, is battling to recover from a house price downturn and default crisis among subprime, or riskier, mortgages.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 2.38 per cent at a two-month high, lifted by gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen which gave a boost to exporters, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index climbed 322.60 points to end at 13,863.47.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 32.34 points or 2.47 per cent to 1,339.91.

Gainers exceeded decliners 1,365 to 261, with 87 issues unchanged. Volume rose to about 1.8 billion shares from about 1.6 billion shares on Thursday.

The extremely pessimistic view about the US economy appears to be gone, said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, chief strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

Insurer Millea Holdings gained 6.3 per cent to 4,250 yen. Big bank Mizuho Financial surged 7.3 per cent to 483,000 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.64 per cent, dealers said. The Hang Seng index closed down 164.0 points at 25,516.78. Turnover was 93.65 billion Hong Kong dollars (12.01 billion US).

China-related stocks led the falls following a weak close on mainland bourses, and on profit-taking after four straight days of gains, said Peter Lai, sales director at DBS Vickers.

HSBC was up 0.99 per cent at 132 and Hutchison Whampoa was up 0.26 per cent at 75.7. China Life was flat at 33.8 dollars. HKEx was up 1.19 per cent at 161.9.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed up 0.4 per cent, dealers said. The Straits Times index finished up 11.65 points at 3,189.20. Volume was 2.06 billion dollars (1.51 billion US).

Keppel Corp. shed 6.5 per cent to 10.90 dollars. DBS Group was up one per cent at 19.90. Singapore Exchange gained 2.7 per cent to nine dollars.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed down 0.4 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 5.0 points at 1,288.08.

The market took a pause today after relatively high trading volumes in recent sessions, said Phua Kwee Hock at SJ Securities.

Palm oil firm Sime Darby edged down 0.5 per cent at 9.95 ringgit. Maybank went down 1.2 per cent to 8.10 ringgit. Tenaga lost 1.5 per cent at 6.70 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.3 per cent lower, dealers said. The Jakarta composite index was down 29.40 points at 2,240.58.

Our market has fallen by about 3.5 per cent in just two days. The main reason behind the market’s sharp fall was the trending up of the inflation rate, Batavia Prosperindo analyst Santikno Suherman said.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed up 2.42 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index rose 404.9 points to 17,125.98.

A fresh wave of buying was seen in index stocks. Banking stocks rose on expectations that the (central bank) may not hike rates further,” said Hiten Mehta at Fortune Financial Services.—AFP