HONG KONG, April 22: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Tuesday after oil prices hit yet another record high and investors reassessed the view that the worst phase of the global financial crisis had passed.
The Japanese stock market slipped more than one per cent, while Australia, Taiwan and South Korea also finished lower. Seoul’s bourse fell after Lee Kun-Hee quit as chairman of giant firm Samsung in a shock announcement.
But Hong Kong and mainland Chinese shares rose around one per cent, with Singapore and India also ending in the black.
Investors were also digesting Tuesday’s announcement by British bank Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) of a record, near 24-billion-dollar share issue to shore up its finances after huge subprime-related writedowns.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices lost more than one per cent as investors took profits after a five-session winning streak that had lifted shares up to a near two-month high, dealers said.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 148.73 points or 1.09 per cent to end at 13,547.82. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares shed 20.05 points or 1.51 per cent to 1,311.46.
Volume declined to 1.58 billion shares from 1.86 billion shares on Monday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.88 per cent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 217.48 points at 24,939.15. Turnover was 87.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (11.24 billion US).
PetroChina surged more than 6.5 per cent and Sinopec was up more than five per cent on China’s move to compensate the two firms for losses incurred on refining imported crude oil.
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 0.6 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 35.7 points at 5,564.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 35.8 points to 5,628.4.
There were 1.2 billion shares traded, worth 4.3 billion dollars (4.0 billion US).
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed up 0.51 per cent, dealers said.
The blue chip Straits Times index rose 16.14 points to 3,187.23 on volume of 1.65 billion shares worth 1.53 billion Singapore dollars (1.13 billion US).
In the short term the sentiment is bullish, said Ong Seng Yeow at Kim Eng Securities.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed little changed, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite index was down 0.7 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 1,279.30.Late buying interest supported the market, and we maintain our view that the recent uptrend remains intact, said Phua Kwee Hock, an analyst at SJ Securities.
Kencana Petroleum rallied 10.6 per cent to 1.99 ringgit. Plantation major Sime Darby added 1.0 per cent to 10.00 ringgit. Telekom Malaysia advanced 0.9 per cent to 10.90 ringgit.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 2.0 per cent lower, dealers said.
The Jakarta composite index closed down 46.79 points at 2,289.10.
Concerns about a possible rise in interest rates to quell inflation hit stocks, dealer said.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.26 per cent lower, dealers said.
The NZX-50 gross index fell 9.28 points to 3,583.26.
Nigel Scott of ABN Amro Craigs said the market was consolidating, with many stocks running out of steam after gains at the start of the month.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed up 0.27 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai Sensex rose 44.54 points to 16,783.87.—AFP
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