HONG KONG, May 13: Asian stocks closed mostly up on Tuesday, helped by an easing in oil prices from record levels, but the Chinese market slipped back in the wake of the deadly earthquake in Sichuan province.
Japanese shares jumped more than 1.5 per cent amid a generally upbeat mood across Asia following a rally of about one per cent on Wall Street on Monday.
Hong Kong and Taiwan both rose nearly two per cent, while South Korea and Singapore posted gains of roughly one per cent. Indonesia led the smaller bourses, rising 1.7 per cent.
But the Chinese stock market fell back 1.84 per cent following Monday’s powerful 7.9-magnitude quake, which so far has killed around 12,000 people.
The temblor was the country’s biggest quake for a generation. Experts warned it could drive up food prices in China even more and set back efforts to tame inflation.
Australian shares also fell back Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of the Labor government’s budget statement. They were joined in the red by Indian stocks.
The positive overall Asian market performance came after oil prices eased from record highs to around $123 per barrel. The high oil price has raised fears of slowing economic growth.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices soared 1.53 per cent, lifted by gains on Wall Street, a drop in crude oil prices and solid earning results from high-tech companies, dealers said.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 210.37 points to close at 13,953.73.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 17.26 points or 1.29 per cent to 1,360.05.
Volume rose to 1.91 billion shares from 1.6 billion shares on Monday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 1.95 per cent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 489.60 points at 25,552.77. Turnover was 80.84 billion Hong Kong dollars (10.36 US dollars).
The market believes that after the earthquake China won’t be implementing additional credit tightening measures. This prompted investors to chase mainland stocks and banks, said Peter Lai at DBS Vickers.
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 0.3 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 15.8 points at 5,812.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 10.9 points to 5,883.2.
A total of 1.6 billion shares worth 6.3 billion dollars (5.9 billion US) changed hands.
Investors turned cautious ahead of the Labor Party’s first budget following its election success last November.
There’s been a bout of pre-budget nerves but the way things are shaping up this could be the year of takeovers, which is good as it will get the market out of the doldrums, said Michael Heffernan at Sydney broker Reynolds & Co.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed up 0.73 per cent, dealers said.
The blue chip Straits Times Index rose 23.26 points to 3,203.42 on volume of 1.30 billion shares worth 1.52 billion Singapore dollars (1.12 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.5 per cent lower, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed down 6.55 points at 1,286.54.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.7 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite Index closed up 40.90 points at 2,418.90.
Investors are chasing resource-based stocks on hopes they will be the least affected by higher inflation if the government hikes prices of subsidized fuels, said Norico Gaman, an analyst at BNI Securities.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.43 per cent higher, dealers said.
The NZX-50 gross index rose 15.48 points to 3,653.31.
Telecom was flat at 3.94 dollars, second-ranked Contact Energy fell nine cents to 9.00, but Fletcher Building rose 17 cents to 8.35.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 0.64 per cent down, dealers said.
The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex fell 108.04 points to 16,752.86 points.
The market lost ground in the absence of overseas fund buying and oil price concerns, said a dealer with brokerage Jamnadas Morarjee.—AFP