HONG KONG, March 6: Asian stocks closed mostly up on Thursday following a Wall Street rally but concerns about the ailing US economy continued to overshadow sentiment.
Taiwan rose more than two per cent, the best performance among major markets, driven in part by optimism that the winner of upcoming presidential polls will seek better ties with rival China.
The Japanese market rallied a little under two per cent, with Australia, China and South Korea also posting gains.
Asian markets had fallen heavily at the start of the week on fears of a US economic slowdown and expectations of more measures to cool China’s economy.
Wall Street stocks closed higher Wednesday as the market shook off a Federal Reserve survey indicating the US economy was spluttering on several fronts amid a long-running housing market slump.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 1.88 per cent higher, regaining the key 13,000 points level after a rally on Wall Street and gains by commodity-related issues, dealers said.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 243.36 points to 13,215.42, a day after closing at the lowest level for six weeks.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 23.64 points, or 1.87 per cent, to 1,287.55.
Gainers outpaced decliners 1,476 to 176, with 71 issues unchanged. Turnover rose to 1.99 billion shares from 1.95 billion Wednesday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.99 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 228.39 points at 23,342.73. Turnover was low at 69.55 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.92 billion US).
Sentiment was also weighed down by rumours that China might raise interest rates in its bid to curb rising inflation,” he said.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 1.1 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 58.9 points at 5,435.5, while the All Ordinaries rose 60.3 points or 1.1 per cent to 5,531.9.
Market volume was 1.6 billion shares worth around 6.4 billion dollars (5.9 billion US).
Both yesterday and at some stage today the market has traded in the red and bounced back, he said.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.25 per cent higher, dealers said.
The main Straits Times index closed up 7.15 points at 2,917.92.
Singapore Exchange added six cents to $7.64. The bank DBS Group fell 22 cents at $17.00. Property firm City Developments fell 12 cents to $11.10.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.5 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite index closed up 19.46 points at 1,299.69.
The Malaysian market rebounded in tandem with the US as well as the regional markets,” said Ang Kok Heng, chief investment officer of Phillip Capital Asset Management.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.6 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite index closed up 16.80 points at 2,656.46.
Telkom was strong today but I don’t see any reasons to buy (the stock) other than the fact that it has gone down a lot recently, said Endang Purnama, a dealer at Panin Securities.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.44 per cent down, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 gross index fell 15.83 points to close at 3,603.83 on turnover worth 88.1 million dollars (70.7 million US).
Fletcher Building fell 31 cents to 9.80 dollars, Telecom fell two cents to 3.93 and Contact Energy rose five cents to 8.30.—AFP
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