HONG KONG, Dec 24: Asian stocks were mixed in reduced Christmas Eve trading on Wednesday, with investors ducking out for the holidays and ever cautious over the grim outlook for the world economy, dealers said.

Japanese shares fell 2.37 per cent, after being closed for a public holiday Tuesday, on persistent worries about the auto sector after Toyota slashed forecasts and US carmakers’ shares skidded on Wall Street.

Hong Kong stocks were 0.3 per cent lower while Sydney closed up 1.4 per cent, in shortened Christmas Eve sessions.

We still do not see an earnings bottom, in Tokyo, Goldman Sachs analyst Kota Yuzawa told Dow Jones Newswires. “Negative catalysts may not yet be exhausted with this downward revision by Toyota, he said.

Falling Asian markets tracked losses on Wall Street, which fell 1.18 per cent on Tuesday in response to disappointing US home sales data.

TOKYO: Japanese shares fell 2.37 per cent. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei index dropped 206.68 points to end at 8,517.10. The Topix index of all the Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues fell 21.73 points or 2.56 per cent to 826.99.

Trade was thin with only about 1.53 billion shares changing hands.

Shares in Honda Motor slid 5.7 per cent to finish at 1,797 yen, while Nissan Motor was down 2.6 per cent to 296 yen.

Camera-maker Canon saw its shares drop 3.2 per cent to 2,725 yen while Sony ended down 2.8 per cent at 1,798 yen.

Toshiba shares ended down 0.95 per cent at 314 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.3 per cent lower.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 36.65 points at 14,184.14.

Turnover was light at 18.34 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.35 billion US).

Heavyweight mainland wireless operator China Mobile dragged the market lower by falling 1.3 per cent to$ 74.50 .

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed 1.4 per cent higher.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 50.8 points in very thin trade to end the day at 3,582.2.

Turnover stood at 587.3 million shares worth 1.32 billion dollars (903 million US).

Telecoms firm Telstra was 1.63 per cent stronger at 3.73.

The world’s biggest miner BHP Billiton was up 1.23 per cent at 28.84 dollars, while rival Rio Tinto rose 3.45 per cent to 36.59.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 0.72 per cent higher.

The main Straits Times Index rose 12.45 points to 1,736.99. Volume traded totalled 325 million shares worth 286 million Singapore dollars (197 million US).

DBS bank gained 21 cents to 9.25, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp added 15 cents to 5.05 and United Overseas Bank rose eight cents to 12.48.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed 0.2 per cent lower.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 1.54 points to close at 869.62 with turnover of 190.1 million shares worth 186.95 million ringgit (53.8 million dollars).

Bumiputra-Commerce dropped 0.9 per cent to 5.80 ringgit while Sime Darby fell 3.7 per cent to 5.20.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.5 per cent lower Wednesday.

The Jakarta Composite Stock Index closed 7.11 points lower at 1,336.61 in moderate volume.

The country’s second largest cellular operator Indosat rose 0.9 per cent.

Telkom slid 1.4 per cent, Timah dropped 1.8 per cent, and Perusahaan Gas fell 1.1 per cent.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed 0.24 per cent higher.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 6.31 points to 2,668.06 on thin turnover of 26.7 million dollars (15.1 million US), in a shortened pre-holiday session.

Retail investor Hellaby Holdings posted the biggest per centage gain for the the day, rising 10 cents, or 8.3 per cent, to 1.30.

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 1.22 per cent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 118.03 points to 9,568.72.—AFP