Asian stock markets close lower
HONG KONG, Nov 15: Asian stocks continued to consolidate at lower levels on Tuesday with interest subdued ahead of the release of key economic data due out of the United States later this week, dealers said.
However, they said losses were modest and expected in response to solid gains last week which pushed many markets into or towards record territory.
Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Bangkok eased, with a lack of direction from Wall Street overnight contributing to the lacklustre performance.
TOKYO: Share prices closed flat, trading in a narrow range as key blue-chips Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa bounced back after losses Monday.
Dealers said profit-taking in property stocks, ahead of the listing of the government-backed Link REIT, also made some investors cautious.
The Hang Seng index was down 2.08 points at 14,627.41. Turnover was 16.11 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.1 billion US).
Cheung Kong was up 0.05 at 78.35, while Hutchison Whampoa was up 0.25 at 73.25.
New World Mobile fell sharply by 0.30 to 2.45, after the company announced that unit New World PCS Ltd will merge with Telstra Corp’s CSL.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed flat, trading in a narrow range as key blue-chips Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa bounced back after losses Monday.
Cheung Kong was up 0.05 at 78.35, while Hutchison Whampoa was up 0.25 at 73.25.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.11 per cent lower as telecoms giant Telstra and the resources sector weighed on the market.
The SP/ASX 200 index lost 5.2 points at 4,603.2. Volume was 1.08 billion shares worth 3.98 billion dollars (US$2.0 billion).
Telstra shares slumped 30 cents or almost seven per cent to 4.02 dollars.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.61 per cent lower as property stocks fell, led by CapitaLand, on rate rise concerns.
The Straits Times Index fell 13.66 points to 2,240.49. Volume totalled 785.64 million shares worth 769.25 million Singapore dollars (US$455 million).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.21 per cent lower amid speculation that foreign investors might cut their holdings in non-dollar denominated assets.
The Composite Index fell 1.86 points to 894.33. Volume was 258.42 million shares worth 638.76 million ringgit (US$169.4 million).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.43 per cent higher on a technical rebound led by index heavyweights Telkom and Astra International after four straight days of losses.
The Composite Index closed up 4.343 points at 1,022.076 on volume of 710.32 million shares valued at 803.81 billion rupiah (US$80.38 million).
WELLINGTON: Share prices rose 0.83 per cent, led by market heavyweight Telecom after Australian telco giant Telstra confirmed it had abandoned plans to build a rival 3G mobile network in New Zealand.
The NZSX-50 index gained 27.21 points to 3,311.65 on turnover worth 95 million New Zealand (US$64 million).—AFP