HONG KONG, April 24: Asian stocks closed mixed on Thursday but China shone as the Shanghai market rocketed nearly 10 per cent after the government slashed stamp duty to shore up share prices.

The Shanghai bourse closed up 9.29 per cent, its biggest one-day rise in more than six years, following the Chinese government’s decision to cut stamp duty on stock transactions from 0.3 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

The move was announced late Wednesday when Chinese stocks were languishing around 46 per cent off an all-time high hit in October 2007. Investors took the decision as a sign the government wanted to support the stock market.

The rally in mainland China boosted Hong Kong, where share prices rose more than 1.5 per cent. But some other major markets ended down, including Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Singapore.

The crisis has led to a global credit crunch with the US expected to drag world growth lower as it slips into a recession this year.

Global concern about inflation also persisted, with oil prices still within sight of record levels at around 120 dollars per barrel.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended slightly weaker as investors turned cautious ahead of a volley of domestic corporate earning results, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 38.29 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 13,540.87. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares lost 6.82 points or 0.52 per cent to 1,307.57.

Decliners outnumbered gainers 1,068 to 518, with 128 issues unchanged.

Volume dropped to 1.58 billion shares from 1.70 billion shares on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 1.55 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed up 391.54 points at 25,680.78. Turnover was 130.26 billion Hong Kong (16.70 billion US).

There is a lot more confidence in the local market now after that meaningful rally in Chinese stocks in the past two sessions, said Matt McKeith, head of equity dealing at First State Investments.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 1.2 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 65.6 points at 5,587.3, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 52.7 points to 5,658.7.

Market volume was 1.6 billion shares worth 7.3 billion dollars (6.9 billion US).

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 0.5 lower, dealers said.

The Straits Times index closed down 16.29 points at 3,177.55. Turnover was 2.4 billion dollars (1.77 billion US).

DBS Group closed down 1.0 per cent at 19.70 dollars. Singapore Exchange added 2.3 per cent to 8.76 and Singapore Airlines shed 0.3 per cent to close at 15.42.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.4 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite index (KLCI) was up 4.92 points at 1,293.08.

Plantation firm Sime Darby climbed 0.5 per cent to 9.90 ringgit. Maybank dropped 0.6 per cent to 8.20 ringgit. Tenaga rose 0.7 per cent to 6.80 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.9 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed down 44.32 points at 2,269.98.

There was a heavy sell-off in the afternoon session, triggered by persistent concerns that rising inflation may force the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate, Valbury Asia Securities analyst Mastono Ali said.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.23 per cent higher, dealers said.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 8.34 points to 3,616.81.

Fletcher Building rose 24 cents to 8.77 dollars and Contact Energy gained 15 cents to 9.30. Telecom fell eight cents to 3.78.

The central bank left interest rates at 8.25 per cent Thursday.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed up 0.14 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai Sensex rose 23.04 points to 16,721.08.

The markets appear directionless, with investor appetite listless ahead of next week’s monetary policy, said a dealer with brokerage ULJK Securities.

—AFP