HONG KONG, July 10: Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday with investors opting to consolidate, amid some profit taking, on the latest rally after Wall Street registered only mild gains overnight.
Selling was also underpinned by many markets trading at all-time or multi-year highs, however, the momentum was not sufficient to block Hong Kong, Seoul or Jakarta from advancing further into record territory.
Bangkok was the standout with a 1.69 per cent surge on strong offshore support which is also driving up the local currency, while Taipei was more reflective of the general mood, up a modest 0.16 per cent.
Tokyo and Wellington closed flat. Sydney eased 0.61 per cent of its record peak on a weaker outlook for retailer Woolworths and Mumbai was down 0.24 per cent.
Shanghai shed 0.78 per cent, Singapore was off 0.18 per cent, Manila fell 0.62 per cent and Kuala Lumpur was down 0.53 per cent.
TOKYO: Share prices closed slightly lower as investors cashed in some gains a day after the benchmark Nikkei index closed at a seven-year high.
Dealers said investors also became cautious ahead of a two-day interest rate meeting at the Bank of Japan through Thursday, and the corporate results seasons in Japan and the United States later this month. The Nikkei-225 index of leading shares slipped 9.31 points to 18,252.67.
Turnover rose to 1.84 billion shares from 1.7 billion Monday.
The two-day BoJ meeting, due to get underway Wednesday, deterred investors from taking aggressive positions, even though the central bank is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent for now, dealers said.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.30 per cent higher, led by China financials and extending their record-breaking run for the sixth straight session.
Dealers said China financials gained after Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Merchants Bank forecast robust earnings growth for the first half of the year.
They added that gains in mainland financials offset mild profit-taking in Hutchison Whampoa and other property stocks.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 68.41 points at 22,885.84. Turnover was 108.99 billion Hong Kong dollars (14.0 billion US).
SYDNEY: Share prices closed 0.61 per cent lower Tuesday as investors took profits after the market hit fresh record highs the previous day.
Dealers said firmer metals prices failed to support the resources, which had led the gains Monday, with a strong but still lower-than-expected forecast from top retailer Woolworths dampening sentiment.
The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 39.1 points at 6,361.5. Volume was 1.77 billion shares worth 5.99 billion dollars (4.5 billion US).
CommSec equities analyst Martin Arnold said the market succumbed to profit-taking as investors locked in gains after Monday's record highs.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.18 per cent lower on profit-taking after surging to a new intraday peak on the economy's strong performance in the second quarter.
The Straits Times Index fell 6.40 points to 3,620.32. Some 4.26 billion shares were traded worth 2.61 billion Singapore dollars (1.72 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower, dragged down by power company Tenaga Nasional after the government said gas subsidies may be reduced pending a review.
The composite index gained 4.85 points at 1,378.69 on volume of 1.441 billion shares worth 2.2 billion ringgit (639.5 million dollars). Trading has been volatile recently and it seems that the performance of our market has now decoupled from the rest in the Asian region, Ng said.
JAKARTA: Share prices finished 0.49 per cent higher at an all-time high as investors snapped up blue chips, though some profit-taking in the broader market capped the upside.
The composite index closed up 11.035 points at 2,282.379. Volume was 5.2 billion shares worth 4.1 trillion rupiah (455.30 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed little changed despite gains by leading stocks Telecom and Fletcher Building.
The NZX-50 index was down 1.80 points at 4,236.85 on turnover worth 154.06 million dollars (118.52 million US).
Bellwhether stock Telecom was up four cents at 4.65 dollars while Fletcher Building rose eight cents to 12.18.
But the star performer on a flat day was NZ Oil and Gas (NZOG) which closed eight cents up at 1.24 dollars, its highest price in more than a year.
MUMBAI: Share prices fell 0.24 per cent as investors locked in gains ahead of software exporter Infosys's earnings on Wednesday.
Dealers said the markets were volatile on bouts of selling in banking and capital goods stocks, which were gainers in previous days. The 30-share Sensex index fell 35.85 points to 15,009.88.—AFP