HONG KONG, Jan 11: Asian shares closed mostly down on Friday with Japan slumping to its lowest point in more than two years, but Malaysia bucked the trend to close at yet another record high.

Japan fell 1.93 per cent despite a rally on Wall Street on Thursday after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke indicated the US central bank was ready to chop borrowing costs to avoid recession.

Reports that investment banks Citigroup and Merrill Lynch will reveal major losses next week in the wake of the US mortgage default crisis and credit crunch also unsettled investors.

Most of Asia’s major markets struggled. The heaviest fallers included South Korea, down 2.3 per cent, Hong Kong, which slipped 1.34 per cent, and Australia, whose stock market fell 1.6 per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 1.93 per cent, slumping to the lowest point in more than two years, on worries about the health of both the US and Japanese economies, dealers said.

They said investors were largely unimpressed by Wall Street’s gains overnight, despite suggestions by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke of further rate cuts to cope with a feared recession.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 277.32 points to close at 14,110.79, the lowest closing level since November 2005.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares dropped 23.78 points or 1.70 per cent to 1,377.58, slipping below the symbolic 1,400-point level.

Declining shares outnumbered gainers 1,452 to 216, with 61 issues unchanged. Volume rose to 2.47 billion shares from 1.92 billion Thursday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.34 per cent as investors fretted over reports big US financial institutions may be further exposed to subprime problems, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 363.85 points at 26,867.01. Turnover was 128.74 billion Hong Kong dollars (16.49 billion US). The index was down 652.68 points or 2.37 per cent for the week.

Investors worried again about subprime problems after media reports said Merrill Lynch and Citigroup may report bigger-than-expected subprime related write downs, said Matthew Kwok, research head at Tanrich Securities.

The market will test the 26,500-point level next week, he said.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 1.6 per cent despite strong gains on Wall Street overnight, amid fears for the global economy and concerns the market was due for a correction, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 97.1 points at 5,981.6 points.

The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 92.9 points or 1.5 per cent at 6,054.4 points.

It defies logic, especially as there’s a chance that the Fed could cut rates later this month, said Ric Klusman, head of institutional trading at Aequs Securities.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.72 per cent lower as investors worried about a possible US economic recession, dealers said.

The Straits Times Index (STI) fell 23.73 points to 3,287.34 on volume of 1.99 billion shares worth 2.17 billion dollars (1.52 billion US).

Singapore Telecommunications closed eight cents higher at $3.94. Singapore Airlines slipped eight cents to $16.30.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed up 1.7 per cent at a record high amid expectations elections will soon be held, dealers said.

They said investors were anticipating a pre-election rally and that Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would soon call elections.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) finished up 24.56 points at 1,516.22.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.72 per cent lower due to continuing nervousness in international markets, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 27.70 points to 3,872.18.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed up 1.19 per cent after Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest software company, posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, dealers said.

The 30-share Mumbai stock exchange Sensex rose 245.37 points to 20,827.45, recovering from a day’s low of 20,505.81.

Infosys’s net profit jumped 25.2 per cent to 12.31 billion rupees (314.28 million dollars) in the three months to December 31 from the same period a year earlier.—AFP