0
HONG KONG, Sept 22: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Thursday, with sentiment hit by a fresh spike in oil prices and concern at the hard line taken by the US Federal Reserve on inflation when it hiked interest rates Tuesday, dealers said.
They said the prospect of Hurricane Rita, now rated a devastating category five storm, crashing into major oil and gas installations around Houston in Texas just weeks after Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans, made for a nervous day.
On the day, Tokyo marked time with a modest loss of 0.28 per cent ahead of a public holiday Friday but Taipei fell 1.57 per cent and Chinese A-shares fell another sharp 2.37 per cent.
Seoul eked out a gain of 0.28 per cent for another record finish, this time just short of the historic 1,200 points level, which investors seem determined to cross.
TOKYO: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent lower as investors took some profits on recent strong gains and fretted over rising oil prices.
“Stocks took a breather following the recent rallies,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 37.21 points to 13,159.36 on turnover of 2.82 billion shares.
Among notable losers were financial-sector-related shares, such as non-life insurers, brokerages and banks.
Millea Holdings, a non-life insurer, fell 130,000 yen to 1,750,000 and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance lost 71 yen to 1,278.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial was down 20,000 to 1,010,000, while brokerage Daiwa Securities dropped 18 yen to 821.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.29 per cent lower after local banks announced they were raising lending rates following the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate rise.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 43.67 points at 15,179.95, on turnover of 17.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.23 billion US dollars).
HSBC fell 0.70 to 125.20, unit Hang Seng Bank was down 0.40 at 103.90, Bank of East Asia was up 0.10 at 22.70 and BOC Hong Kong down 0.10 at 15.35 after their rate-rise announcements.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.21 per cent higher as the resources sector continued to benefit from rising oil and metals prices.
The SP/ASX 200 rose 9.5 points to its high for the day of 4,561.9. Market volume was 1.29 billion shares worth 4.04 billion dollars (3.11 billion US).
In resources, Rio Tinto surged 87 cents or 1.6 per cent to 55.50 dollars, while BHP Billiton rose 52 cents or 2.5 per cent to 21.41 dollars.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.35 per cent lower on higher oil prices as powerful Hurricane Rita threatened to hammer the oil-producing US gulf coast.
The Straits Times Index fell 7.97 points to 2,290.68. Volume reached 1.23 billion shares valued at 1.06 billion Singapore dollars (631 million US).
Banks were lower as DBS dipped 10 cents to 15.80, United Overseas Bank shed 10 cents to 14.10, and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp went down five cents to 6.20.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed little changed in sluggish trade, with investors concerned by the latest spike in oil prices and waiting for next week’s federal budget announcement.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 0.48 points to 923.05. Volume was 479.05 million shares, worth 771.89 million ringgit (205 million dollars).
Among blue chips, Telekom Malaysia and Malayan Banking were up 0.10 ringgit at 10.30 and 11.60, while Tenaga Nasional was unchanged at 10.80.
JAKARTA: Share prices slumped 2.61 per cent as a weaker rupiah weighed on sentiment, especially companies with foreign debt exposures.
The composite index closed down 27.298 points at 1,016.758. Volume was 2.07 billion shares valued at 3.70 trillion rupiah (362.39 million dollars.)
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.63 per cent lower due to falls in overseas markets and economic concerns.
Peter Lynds of Direct Broking said trading was affected by weakness in the US and other overseas markets, concerns about New Zealand’s record current account deficit and oil prices.
The NZSX-50 index fell 21.44 points to 3,405.13 on turnover worth 131.9 million dollars (92.0 million US).
Fletcher Building, which is particularly sensitive to interest rate worries, fell 12 cents to 7.70 dollars.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 3.13 per cent lower as investors sold shares in blue-chip companies on concern that the market is set for profit-booking after record gains.
The Sensex index closed down 265.50 points to 8,221.64. Turnover was 40.69 billion rupees ($928 million).—AFP
