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TOKYO, Jan 17: Asian stock markets closed mostly lower on Thursday after taking their cue from the sharp overnight decline on Wall Street due to concerns over US corporate earnings.
Share prices in Tokyo fell 0.5 per cent but buying of banks and defensive stocks helped the Japanese market stave off steeper losses.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s key Nikkei-225 index closed down 49.40 points at 10,128.18.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices rose 0.5 per cent with short-covering in select blue chips helping to reverse some of their earlier losses.
The key Hang Seng index gained 49.75 points to close at 11,013.84 on turnover of US$847 million.
SYDNEY: Australian shares slipped 0.9 per cent largely because market heavyweight News Corp. suffered from a sharp overnight sell-off on Wall Street.
The all ordinaries index shed 31 points to 3,336.2 while the SP/ASX 200 dropped 32.7 points to 3,393.1.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices fell for the third straight day, closing 0.8 per cent lower on a hefty plunge in US stocks.
The Straits Times Index finished 14.03 points down at 1,660.51. The STI has lost 70.01 points, or 4.04 per cent, over the past three days, partly due to profit taking after it breached the 1,700-point level last week.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.4 per cent lower after sharp losses on Wall street, but the declines were mitigated by selective late buying by local funds.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index fell 2.75 points to finish at 697.87.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 1.6 percent higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on trader and fund buying in software issues after Digital GlobalSoft announced better-than-expected quarterly results.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.3 per cent higher as selected blue chips rebounded in late trade after fears of protests against a fuel price increase eased.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand stocks dropped 0.3 per cent on the back of Telecom’s falling share price and the overnight decline on Wall Street.—AFP
