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HONG KONG, March 27: Asian stocks closed higher on Monday with Australia, New Zealand and India heading into uncharted territory after closing at record highs, dealers said.
They said gains on Wall Street had lent a positive tone to the region where increased merger activity bolstered Sydney while Wellington enjoyed a lift from another fall in the local currency and funds pushed Mumbai sharply higher.
TOKYO: Share prices climbed to the highest closing level for almost seven weeks as investors continued to snap up stocks amid optimism over the economy.
The Nikkei-225 index climbed 89.23 points or 0.54 per cent to 16,650.10, its highest close since February 7 on turnover of 1.60 billion shares.
In the chip sector, Fujitsu jumped 45 yen to 967.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.63 per cent higher on interest in select China stocks ahead of annual results announcements by several H-share firms this week.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 99.41 points at 15,815.87. Turnover was 29.41 billion Hong Kong dollars (3.7 billion US dollars).
SYDNEY: Shares prices rose sharply after a burst of merger activity helped push the benchmark to a fresh record high, with the key market index gaining nearly one per cent.
The SP/ASX 200 index jumped 48.0 points to 5,088.1. A total of 1.39 billion shares worth 4.61 billion dollars (3.27 billion US) changed hands.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.28 per cent higher boosted by gains in property stocks ahead of Wednesday’s closing of bids for Singapore’s first casino licence.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.26 per cent higher on gains in construction on expectations of wide ranging benefits from the government’s five-year development plan to be unveiled later this week.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed flat, consolidating after recent gains while banks were higher on hopes inflation data due out next week will keep the lid on interest rates.
WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 1.64 per cent to a fresh record as leading stocks rose strongly and exporters gained on the continuing fall of the local currency.
The NZSX-50 gross index rose for the fourth straight day, adding 59.65 points to 3,640.44 on turnover of 144.4 million New Zealand dollars (88.0 million US).
MUMBAI: Shares prices closed 1.18 per cent higher to a record on strong fund buying even as other overseas markets turned cautious ahead of the US Fed decision on interest rates.
—AFP
