HONG KONG, April 7: Asian stocks closed mostly up on Monday, shrugging off a rise in US unemployment that heightened fears the world’s biggest economy, a key buyer of Asian exports, faces recession.

Chinese stocks staged the session’s best performance, surging more than four per cent amid investor hopes that mainland shares are through the worst after sliding precipitously from a peak last year.

Japan, the region’s biggest stock market, rose more than one per cent, as did Hong Kong and Taiwan. Indian rallied 2.7 per cent, bouncing back from a slide last week triggered by worries over high inflation.

Asia’s other key bourses also ended in the black, including Australia, South Korea and Singapore, although their gains were more modest.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 1.18 per cent, recovering from early losses as investors managed to overcome jitters about a fall in US employment, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index climbed 157.01 points to end at 13,450.23 while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 16.69 points or 1.29 per cent to 1,305.63.

Decliners outnumbered gainers 1,169 to 445 with 112 issues unchanged.

Volume dipped to 1.83 billion shares from 1.84 billion on Friday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 1.29 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index gained 314.13 points to 24,578.76. Turnover was 99.47 billion Hong Kong dollars (12.77 billion US).

HSBC ended flat at 131.8 Hong Kong dollars, China Mobile was up 3.72 per cent at 128.4, HKEx was up 2.56 per cent at 152.3 and China Life added 3.38 per cent at 30.6.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed up 0.1 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed 5.4 points higher at 5,625, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 20.4 points at 5,684.1.

There were 1.6 billion shares traded, worth 5.4 billion dollars (5.0 billion US).

BHP Billiton rose 5.1 perc rent to 40.55. Rio Tinto gained 4.6 per cent to 136.91.Gold play Newcrest Mining was up 5.3 per cent at 35.38 after gold prices rose on Friday.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.84 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times Index closed 26.36 points higher at 3,181.92 on volume of 1.75 billion shares worth 1.48 billion dollars (1.07 billion US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed down 0.1 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed down 0.91 of a point at 1,221.07.

Maybank ended the day flat at 8.15 ringgit, utility Tenaga dropped 2.1 per cent to 7.15 ringgit while Telekom Malaysia added 2.0 per cent to 10.70 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed up 0.4 per cent, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed up 9.71 points at 2,286.80.

It was miners that helped drive the market to end in positive territory today (Monday), said Henan Putihrai analyst Thombos Sitanggang.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.36 per cent higher, dealers said.The benchmark NZX-50 gross index rose 13.25 points to 3,644.49.

The market was quietly firm, set against the fact that Wall St didn’t run that strongly on Friday, said First NZ Capital research manager Barry Lindsay.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 2.7 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark Mumbai Sensex index rose 413.96 points to 15,757.08, after it fell 489.43 points on Friday following inflation data.

Inflation is a global phenomena and local monetary action may not provide immediate relief, said a dealer with brokerage Jamnadas Morarjee.—AFP