May 24, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

HONG KONG, May 23: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Friday amid concerns that sky-high oil prices and soaring food costs will stoke inflation and threaten economic growth.

The Taiwanese market led the decliners, sliding nearly two per cent, while India fell more than 1.5 per cent and Hong Kong shed 1.31 per cent.

Australia and Singapore slipped about one per cent and Chinese shares edged down, but the Japanese market managed to end in the black, rising 0.24 per cent.The poor performance in Asia came even though oil prices fell slightly from all-time highs above $135 per barrel hit Thursday. But they were still trading above $130.

TOKYO: Japanese shares closed narrowly mixed as investors turned cautious ahead of the weekend, amid ongoing jitters about the outlook for the US economy and world oil prices, dealers said.

The Nikkei-225 gained 33.74 points or 0.24 per cent to end at 14,012.20. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 2.98 points or 0.22 per cent to 1,376.69.

Volume dipped to 2.2 billion shares from 2.32 billion shares on Thursday.

Investors found some solace after seeing that the fall in US stocks had stopped, said Yumi Nishimura, manager for equity marketing at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

Sony firmed 0.2 per cent to 5,040 yen. Shares in Sanyo Electric were down 2.6 per cent at 266 yen. Mizuho Financial was down 0.8 per cent at 525,000 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 1.31 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 329.05 points, at 24,714.07. Turnover was 75.26 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.65 billion US dollars).

China Mobile led the losses after industry news signalled the start of telecom industry restructuring, said Peter Lai at DBS Vickers.

China’s state media reported that fixed-line operator Tietong Telecom will be absorbed into China Mobile.

SYDNEY: Australian shares dropped 1.0 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 lost 58.9 points to close at 5,768.0 and the broader All Ordinaries shed 53.8 points to 5,866.2.

Turnover was 2.0 billion shares worth about 6.1 billion dollars (5.86 billion US).

BHP Billiton ended the week down 0.4 per cent at 47.49 dollars while its rival and takeover target Rio Tinto shed 1.0 per cent to 149.52 dollars.

Woodside lost 3.7 per cent to 67.45 dollars. National Australia Bank lost 1.1 per cent to 32.49 dollars.

The country’s third-largest bank Westpac fell 1.5 per cent to 22.51 dollars and its takeover target St. George slipped 0.6 per cent to 32.32 dollars.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.22 per cent lower, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times Index fell 38.71 points to 3,122.15.

Official figures Friday showed Singapore’s economy grew an annual 6.7 per cent in the first quarter, while inflation hit 7.5 per cent in April.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.2 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 2.79 points at 1,274.78.

Telekom Malaysia was down 0.6 per cent at 3.22 ringgit. Sime Darby was down 1.6 per cent at 9.50 ringgit. Proton Holdings was up 0.6 per cent at 3.64 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.5 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed down 38.0 points or 1.5 per cent at 2,465.96.

The government is planning to raise prices of subsidised fuel products by an average of 28.7 per cent.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed little changed, dealers said.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 1.86 points to 3,589.47.

Broker James Smalley of Hamilton Hindin Greene said investors had reacted slightly negatively to a rise in wholesale interest rates following Thursday’s government budget.

Telecom fell three cents to $3.91, Contact Energy rose eight cents to 9.05, and Fletcher Building was down three cents at 7.86.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 1.52 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex fell 257.47 points to 16,649.64.—AFP