HONG KONG, Sept 18: Asian stocks fell again on Thursday but pared back early losses after the world’s leading central banks joined together to flood the market with cash to put the brakes on the global financial crisis.

On a rollercoaster day the Japanese index closed 2.2 per cent down after falling as low as 3.18 per cent by noon, its lowest in three years, while Hong Kong finished flat following a dive to 7.4 per cent.

Singapore also managed to bounce back from a noon plummet of 4.5 per cent to end flat, while Shanghai closed just 1.72 per cent off after being down more than six per cent.

In Japan dealers were given a boost when the central bank injected 2.5 trillion yen ($14.4 billion) into the market -- that was on top of the 5.5 already handed over since Tuesday.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices were down 2.22 per cent, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed down 260.49 points to 11,489.30, rebounding from earlier lows, but still its lowest close since June 27, 2005.

HONG KONG: Shares closed flat, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was off 0.03 per cent, or 4.73 points, to 17,632.46, its lowest close since Oct 2006. Turnover was 103.23 billion Hong Kong dollars (13.12 billion US).

HSBC fell 0.2 per cent, Hang Seng Bank was off 2.8 per cent, and Bank of East Asia dropped 6.6 per cent.

Some mainland banks bucked the trend. ICBC finished up 0.25 per cent while Bank of Communications surged 1.82 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 2.4 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 114.9 points to 4,607.3, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 117.8 points to 4,651.9.

Australia’s biggest investment bank Macquarie Group was hard hit, with its shares plunging 7.88 dollars or 23.22 per cent to 26.05, a five-year low.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed flat, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed 0.08 points lower at 2,419.21.

Volume totalled 1.63 billion shares worth 2.11 billion Singapore dollars (1.47 billion US) with losers outpacing winners 379 to 211, while 757 issues were flat.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended 1.1 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 11.33 points to close at 991.66.

Maybank was flat at 6.90 ringgit while gaming giant Genting lost 1.24 per cent to 4.76.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended up one per cent, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index added 17.78 points to 1,787.67.

The main index is down 17 per cent since the start of September.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices fell 3.51 per cent, dealers said

The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 111.01 points to 3,158.92.

Telecom was off eight cents at 2.73 dollars, Fletcher Building fell 32 cents to 6.95, and Contact Energy was down 15 cents at 8.61.

MUMBAI: Indian shares rose 0.4 per cent, dealers said.

The BSE benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 52.7 points to 13,315.6, snapping seven consecutive days of losses.—AFP