0
HONG KONG, Jan 20: Asian stocks closed mixed with a downward bias on Friday, as investors continued to consolidate in the aftermath of a regional plunge and turbulent mid-week trade.
Dealers said investor confidence had improved since the chaotic scenes that dominated Tokyo trade, forcing the market there to close early, abated leaving most to focus on other local and international issues.
This resulted in a cautious sentiment, however, dealers said most investors believed the region’s economic fundamentals remained sound and any losses appeared limited.
Tokyo closed flat as investigations got underway into allegations of fraud at Internet firm Livedoor, which had prompted Wednesday’s sharp sell down. Hong Kong and Manila were also little changed.
Sydney, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur registered modest gains, however, Seoul bucked its recent trend of tracking Tokyo, and closed 2.64 per cent lower on profit taking.
TOKYO: Share prices closed flat as investors took a cautious stance ahead of the weekend and following recent market chaos sparked by probe into Internet firm Livedoor.
The Nikkei-225 index added just 0.41 points to end at 15,696.69, with trading still shortened by half an hour as an emergency measure to prevent heavy volumes crippling the trading system.
For the week, the Nikkei 225 index shed 4.6 per cent while the TOPIX lost 3.4 per cent.
Losers exceeded gainers 976 to 622, with 79 issues unchanged.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat in cautious trade, with investors keeping a wary eye on oil prices which surged past the 67 dollars a barrel level in Asian trading.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 8.34 points at 15,662.08. Turnover was 33.53 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.3 billion US).
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent higher, ending a bumpy week on a positive note as solid overseas leads and strong metal prices provided support.
The S and P/ASX 200 added 13.5 points to 4,854.4. Turnover was 1.22 billion shares worth 4.01 billion dollars (2.99 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.44 per cent higher on gains in blue chips such as Singapore Airlines (SIA), as regional markets continued to stabilise.
The Straits Times Index rose 10.39 points to 2,388.91. Volume totalled 1.17 billion shares worth 1.10 billion Singapore dollars (674 million US).
SIA closed up 0.50 to a 52-week high of 13.40 on hopes that the airline will sell stakes in SIA Engineering and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.30 per cent higher due to gains in selected blue chips, with investors consolidating after a mid-week regional plunge.
The composite index gained 2.71 points to 905.41.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.58 per cent lower on profit-taking, with Telkom and banking stocks taking the brunt of the selling.
The composite index closed down 7.171 points at 1,222.888 on volume of 814.98 million shares valued at 986.04 billion rupiah (104.56 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.51 per cent lower after a fall in market leader Telecom prompted by a cut in the value of its troubled Australian business.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 16.93 points to 3,341.97 on turnover worth 156.8 million New Zealand dollars (106.7 million US).—AFP
