Asian stocks mainly up

Published May 30, 2007

HONG KONG, May 29: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday with gains continuing to be kept in check by Shanghai which again surged to a record high and caused further jitters over a potential sharp correction.

The 1.47pc surge made Shanghai by far the best performer on the day and it has jumped more than 60pc this year alone, fuelling concerns over serious consequences that could follow any major sell-off.

Elsewhere Sydney was up 1.06pc but gains in other benchmarks were more modest with investors also trading short of their major lead with Wall Street closed overnight for a public holiday.

Tokyo rose 0.48pc, Seoul struck a record close with a gain of just 0.23pc, Taipei was up 0.30pc, Singapore 0.39pc and Wellington was up 0.11pc as Mumbai advanced 0.77pc.

However, Bangkok closed flat while Hong Kong shed 0.29pc, Jakarta fell 0.87pc and Kuala Lumpur was off 0.22pc.

TOKYO: Share prices closed up 0.48pc on optimism about the domestic economy after unemployment hit a nine-year low and consumer spending rose.

But dealers said overall trading was somewhat subdued as market players waited for Wall Street to reopen following a three-day weekend.

The Nikkei-225 index gained 84.97 points to 17,672.56. Volume rose to 1.78 billion shares from 1.57 billion Monday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.29pc lower as investors trimmed positions further on persistent fears a continued rise on the Shanghai bourse will lead to more mainland tightening measures over the economy.

Property stocks were mostly lower after the government land auction of two sites in Tuen Mun fetched only a combined 1.74bn Hong Kong dollars (223 million US dollars), which was at the low end of a market forecast range.

SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.39pc higher with the broad market consolidating in the absence of fresh buying incentives and with US markets closed for a holiday.

The Straits Times Index closed up 13.71 points at 3,527.08 on volume of 1.91bn shares, worth 1.55 billion dollars (1.02 billion US).

MUMBAI: Share prices rose 0.77pc on sustained fund buying, but in choppy trade as the benchmark index inched toward record levels. The 30-share Sensex rose 110.32 points to 14,508.—AFP

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