HONG KONG, Aug 3: Asian stocks closed sharply mixed on Wednesday with investors cashing-up in markets which have recently rallied, while buying into those that have lagged over the past few weeks, dealers said.
But elsewhere, in Sydney, Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong, benchmarks succumbed to profit taking after striking multi-year highs on a positive outlook for economic growth, particularly in the United States.
TOKYO: Share prices gained 0.35 per cent, having breached the key 12,000 points level at one stage as investors tracked gains on Wall Street which hit a four-year high on strong US consumer spending.
The Nikkei-225 index gained 41.60 points at 11,981.80, off a high of 12,009.56, the first time the market has been above 12,000 points since April 28, 2004, on heavy trading volume of 1.98 billion shares.
Results provided the main lead for trade.
Suzuki Motor jumped 64 yen to 1,874 after the mini-vehicle maker posted a 1.7 per cent increase in net profit.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.12 per cent weaker as investors began taking profits after strong gains pushed the benchmark index above 15,000.
Among other oil stocks, PetroChina was down 0.35 at 7.0 and Sinopec down 0.075 at 3.375. In the banking sector, HSBC fell 0.70 at 127.80 on profit-taking after Tuesday’s gains.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.38 per cent lower as the market fell off its highs at the start of the corporate reporting season.
The SP/ASX 200 index opened solidly higher, rising to an intra-day record high of 4,399.2 points before sentiment turned and it dropped to close at the day’s low of 4,368.8, down 16.6 points.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.5 per cent lower as investors locked in profits after a six-day rally.
Stocks in the bank and property sectors were most likely to be under pressure in the short-term after recent gains and the main index is expected to find strong support at 2,300 points, dealers said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 1.20 per cent higher on the back of interest from institutional funds in selected blue chips and government-linked companies.
The composite index gained 11.26 points to 952.59 on volume of 848.17 million shares worth 1.25 billion ringgit (333.33 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.24 per cent higher, with energy stocks driving the market index to another record high despite heavy profit-taking in blue-chip Astra International.
Telkom ended the day flat at 5,700 rupiah while sister company Indosat was unchanged at 5,700.
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.29 per cent lower on profit-taking in leading stocks.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 9.60 points to 3,349.06 on turnover of US$75.6 m.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed at a record high, driven by buying of index-heavyweight Reliance Industries after it said it would demerge some activities as part of a settlement between the owners.
The Sensex crossed the key 7,800 level during afternoon trade—AFP
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