HONG KONG, May 28: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Wednesday as crude prices slipped farther from record peaks, hitting oil company shares, but stayed high enough to fan worries that inflation will slow economic growth.

The Japanese stock market, Asia’s biggest, fell 1.32 per cent with commodity stocks leading the decline as oil prices dipped to around 128 dollars per barrel, compared with an all-time high last week above 135 dollars.

Australia, Taiwan and South Korea all closed down more than one per cent.Hong Kong ended in the red too, but Chinese shares jumped nearly 2.5 per cent, India rallied more than 1.5 per cent and Singapore was up around 0.5 per cent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 1.32 per cent as investors locked in gains after the previous day’s rally, remaining nervous about the health of the US economy, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 183.87 points to 13,709.44. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares declined 19.56 points or 1.43 per cent to 1,348.69. Volume rose to 2.04 billion shares from 1.57 billion shares on Tuesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.13 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 32.53 points at 24,249.51. Turnover was low at 60.21 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.71 billion US).

Telecoms giant China Mobile fell for the fifth straight session amid competition worries after China announced telecoms restructuring.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 1.2 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 66.3 points at 5,648.1. The broader All Ordinaries slipped 63.9 points to 5,754.5.

Turnover was 1.9 billion shares worth some 5.6 billion dollars (5.4 billion US).

Australia’s largest airline Qantas soared 4.9 per cent to 3.45 dollars, aided by easing oil prices and its announcement of capacity cuts to cope with higher fuel prices.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.56 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index rose 17.43 points to 3,132.78. Volume was 1.4 billion Singapore dollars (1.02 billion US).

Singapore Telecom added 0.8 per cent to 3.67 dollars, Keppel Corp. rose 3.3 per cent to 11.92 and Singapore Airlines climbed 1.9 per cent to 15.90.

DBS Group rose 0.2 per cent to 19.36. CapitaLand was down 0.8 per cent at 6.25.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed down 1.1 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index slipped 13.66 points to 1,260.58.

We expect the KLCI to stay volatile over the next few days, Aseambankers said in a note.

Technical indicators show that any recovery could be short-lived, “hence, investors should avoid buying aggressively, the note said.

Sime Darby was down 2.6 per cent at 9.25 ringgit. Tenaga edged up 0.7 per cent to 6.95 ringgit. Telekom Malaysia was down 0.6 per cent at 3.16 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.5 per cent higher, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index closed up 36.77 points at 2,433.77.

Bumi Resources surged 10.4 per cent to 7,950 rupiah. Astra International gained 3.0 per cent to 20,350 rupiah. Telkom fell 1.9 per cent to 7,900 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed down 0.12 per cent, dealers said.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 4.33 points to 3,547.01.

Fletcher Building lost eight cents to 7.60 dollars. Air New Zealand ended three cents lower at 1.11 dollars after warning about its earnings. Contact Energy ended down one cent at 9.10 dollars.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 1.53 per cent up, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex rose 249.78 points to 16,525.37.

The market looked oversold in recent days and a small bounce-back was expected, said Atul Hatwar, a dealer with Crosseas Securities.—AFP