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HONG KONG, Jan 16: Asian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday with light profit taking emerging in the wake of recent gains while buying was capped by an absence of fresh leads.
With New York closed overnight for a public holiday investors were content to consolidate, however, the prospect of an interest rate hike in Japan later in the week weighed on sentiment.
As a result, Tokyo was down 0.04 per cent while Seoul eased 0.09 per cent and Hong Kong fell 0.20 per cent. Wellington fell off a record high by 0.45 per cent, Mumbai was down 0.11 per cent as Sydney, Bangkok and Singapore closed flat.
Gains elsewhere were more modest with Shanghai up 0.95 per cent and Kuala Lumpur gaining 0.45 per cent.
TOKYO: Share prices closed almost flat as investors turned cautious ahead of a Bank of Japan decision on whether to raise its super-low interest rates.
Dealers said remarks by government officials warning that it may be too soon for another interest rate hike have added to the uncertainty over what the BoJ will do at the end of its two day meeting through Thursday.
The Nikkei-225 index fell 7.46 points to 17,202.96. Volume rose to 1.94 billion shares from 1.90 billion on Monday.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.20 per cent lower on mild profit-taking in some blue chips following Monday's sharp gains.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 40.61 points at 20,027.95. Turnover was 50.39 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.5 billion US).
After making huge gains in recent months, including yesterday's session, the market simply took a breather today with mild profit-taking in blue chips and other counters, said Brook McConnel, president of South Ocean Management.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed flat on a lack of international leads after hitting new intra-day records.
The SP/ASX 200 slipped 0.4 points to 5,673.4. A total of 1.59 billion shares traded, worth 4.6 billion dollars (3.6 US dollars).
Reynolds Co private client advisor Michael Heffernan said the market drifted off after earlier strong gains.
Generally a much brighter start to the week and it looks like the US market should be up as well tonight, he said.
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed flat after profit taking shaved off early gains.
The Straits Times Index rose 2.63 points or 0.09 per cent to 3,038.21, on volume of 3.81 billion shares worth 1.86 billion dollars (1.22 billion US).
Fraser Securities research head Najeeb Jarhom said “brisk corporate activity” including mergers and acquisitions helped underpin the market.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed mixed with select blue chips and warrants supporting the key index to offset profit-taking in lower liners.
The composite index closed up 5.2 points at 1,132.61. Volume traded was 1.26 billion shares worth 1.85 billion ringgit (528.6 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 1.38 per cent higher on an extended technical rebound, supported by Perusahaan Gas Negara which surged after it resumed trading.
The composite index closed up 23.819 points at 1,754.294 on volume of 2.13 billion shares worth 3.07 trillion rupiah (338.18 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices dropped 0.45 per cent from record levels as leading stocks saw profit-taking after recent gains.
The NZX-50 gross index fell 18.47 points to 4,067.14 on turnover worth 95.8 million dollars (66.6 million US).
The fall came despite a quarterly business survey released Tuesday by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research showing a rebound in confidence.
It still says that business activity is okay -- that means order flow, that means employment, continuing government tax take, Scott said.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed down 0.11 per cent, snapping three straight days of gains as investors sold index heavyweights.
Dealers said the market looked to lock-in gains made by benchmark index software firms Infosys Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services following better-that-expected third quarter earnings Monday.—AFP
