Asian shares mixed but Tokyo suffers

Published February 10, 2009

HONG KONG, Feb 9: Asian markets were mixed on Monday, but Tokyo was notably weighed down by worries that a massive US economic stimulus package may be delayed by wrangling in the Senate.

Tokyo, Singapore and Seoul were all down, while Hong Kong was up 0.8 per cent and Mumbai up 3.04 per cent -- its highest level in a month.

The Malaysian Stock Exchange and Bangkok were closed for public holidays, with both resuming trade on Tuesday.

TOKYO: Down 1.33 per cent. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 107.59 points to end at 7,969.03.

The market was weighed down by worries that a massive US economic stimulus package may be delayed by wrangling in the US Senate.

The Senate was close to voting on a revamped stimulus bill of more than 800 billion dollars as President Barack Obama presses for swift action to revive the world’s largest economy.

HONG KONG: Up 0.8 per cent. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 114.02 points at 13,769.06.

The bourse tracked gains on the Chinese mainland bourse triggered partly by a stimulus package announced for key industries, dealers said.

SYDNEY: Up 1.12 per cent. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 38.7 points to 3508.6.

The market has been pushed higher by the resources and energy sectors, particularly BHP and Rio, with commodity prices up overnight, CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan told AAP.

SINGAPORE: Down 1.92 per cent. The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed down 33.01 points at 1,682.34

Sentiment was cautious over corporate earnings, analysts said. SIA fell 34 cents to 10.40, and SingTel dropped 10 cents to 2.43.

CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest property firms, reported a year-on-year 88.4 per cent drop in fourth-quarter net profit and announced it was seeking to raise about 1.84 billion dollars in a rights issue.

CapitaLand had not yet resumed trading after a halt ahead of the announcements but other property firms were lower.

JAKARTA:Down 0.6 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index ended 8.41 points lower at 1342.23.It’s a healthy correction after gains in the previous two sessions, a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

MUMBAI: Up 3.04 per cent. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 283.03 points to 9,583.89.

The index hit its highest level in a month on hopes of a fresh stimulus package as official estimates showed India’s economy growing at its slowest pace in six years in the 12 months to March, dealers said.

WELLINGTON: Down 0.25 per cent. The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 6.95 points to 2,766.56.Stocks gave up early gains as interest waned in bellwether stock Telecom, dealers said.

Telecom jumped nine cents to $2.79 in early trading before falling back to close one cent down at 2.69.-—AFP

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