HONG KONG, Jan 31: Asian shares closed mixed on Thursday after another sharp US interest rate cut fuelled rallies in Japan and South Korea but failed to ignite major gains elsewhere as fears of a US recession intensified.

The Federal Reserve chopped borrowing costs by 0.50 percentage points to 3.00 per cent Wednesday, following an emergency cut last week during a global stocks meltdown, but the latest move failed to lift many Asian markets.

The exceptions were Japan, Asia’s biggest bourse, which closed up 1.85 per cent, and South Korea, where share prices ended up 2.2 per cent.

Australia rose too, but only by 0.6 per cent. Asia’s other major stock markets all ended in the red.

The Fed slashed borrowing costs by 0.75 percentage points last week to battle the looming economic slowdown, while US lawmakers have just approved an urgent $157-billion economic stimulus package.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 1.85 per cent higher after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates again to try to stave off the threat of a US recession, dealers said.

They said some robust domestic corporate news also underpinned the gains.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 247.44 points to finish at 13,592.47.

The broader Topix of all first-section shares finished up 26.20 points or 1.98 per cent at 1,346.31.

Gainers outpaced decliners 1,502 to 178 with 48 issues unchanged. Volume rose to 2.39 billion shares from 2.33 billion shares on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.8 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 197.95 points at 23,455.74. Turnover was 110.65 billion Hong Kong dollars (14.18 billion US).

After all, the market half expected a 50 basis point cut from the Fed, but they also know that the move may not be enough to prevent a recession, he said.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 0.6 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 31.6 points at 5,650.3, while the broader All Ordinaries ended 31.7 points higher at 5,697.0.

Volume traded was 1.64 billion shares worth 7.39 billion dollars (6.59 billion US dollars).

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.61 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Straits Times index fell 18.28 points to 2,981.75. Volume was 1.66 billion shares worth 2.31 billion Singapore dollars (1.63 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices rose 0.7 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) ended the session up 9.17 points at 1,393.25.

Tenaga was unchanged at 9.15 ringgit, Telekom Malaysia was down 20 sen at 11.30 ringgit and Maybank was steady at 11.80 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.7 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed up 16.89 points at 2,627.25.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed down 0.72 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZSX-50 index fell 26.37 points to 3,670.64 on turnover worth 117 million dollars (91.5 million US).

Telecom closed down two cents at the $3.98. Retailer the Warehouse was up 10 cents at $5.65.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 0.62 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 109.93 points to 17,648.71, its fourth straight day of losses.

The market could remain rangebound in the absence of fresh overseas inflows, said R. Balakrishnan, an executive director at Centrum Broking.—AFP