Asian stocks mostly lower

Published May 19, 2007

HONG KONG, May 18: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Friday with investors consolidating after a poor overnight performance by Wall Street and amid fears the Chinese markets boom may have gone to far.

China jitters were helped along by tycoon Li Ka-shing and HSBC executive director Peter Wong who separately warned that trading in highly-priced shares on the mainland would impact on Hong Kong if the Chinese market bubble bursts.

TOKYO: Share prices ended the week on a downbeat note, falling for a second day as investors awaited a slew of banking results for fresh leads.

The Nikkei-225 index dropped 99.02 points or 0.57 per centto 17,399.58.

Volume dipped to 1.97 billion shares from 2.03bn on Thursday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.43 per cent lower as tycoon Li Ka-shing's comment about the risks of trading highly-priced Chinese stocks sparked fears of an impending correction in mainland markets and its adverse impact on the local bourse.

SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.84 per cent lower as investors took profits after a record-breaking run and the resources sector was hit by a fall in metals prices.

The S&P/ASX 200 shed 53.4 points to 6,312.5. Turnover was 1.76 billion shares worth 5.25 billion dollars (4.31 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.37 per cent lower on profit-taking following Wall Street's decline.

MUMBAI: Share prices closed flat in choppy, rangebound trade, as investors opted not to build up big positions ahead of the weekend, dealers said.—AFP

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