HONG KONG, April 18: Asian stocks closed mostly down on Friday with Chinese shares slumping nearly four per cent amid mixed US corporate earnings figures and oil prices still trading at near record highs.

Shanghai tumbled 3.97 per cent to around 50 per cent below its peak in October last year amid concerns that high inflation in China will lead to more steps to slow its still strong economy.

Australia’s market suffered a sharp 1.6 per cent fall with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore also ending the session lower. But Japan, Asia’s biggest market, managed to rise a little over 0.5 per cent. India’s market was closed.

Mixed earnings reports from key US firms did little to alleviate concerns about the ailing American economy in the wake of the global financial crisis and credit crunch.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 0.58 per cent, extending a rebound to a fourth day on easing worries about the outlook for corporate earnings, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index climbed 78.15 points to end at 13,476.45.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 10.74 points or 0.82 per cent to 1,304.06.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 969 to 606, with 143 issues unchanged. Volume rose to 1.58 billion shares from 1.86 billion Thursday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.25 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed down 61.18 points at 24,197.78. Turnover was 79.89 billion Hong Kong dollars (10.24 billion US).

HSBC shed 0.23 per cent at 130.70, China Life lost 1.03 per cent at 28.75, HKEx was down 1.96 per cent at 140 and Hutchison Whampoa was down 0.26 per cent at 75.50. PetroChina lost 2.77 per cent at 9.82

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed 1.6 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 89.3 points to 5,429.7 while the broader All Ordinaries shed 83.2 points to 5,504.1.

Turnover was 1.3 billion shares, worth 4.2 billion dollars (3.9 billion US).

It’s a case of a steady selling-down from the open, said Andrew Knight, a corporate dealer at CMC Markets.

Mining heavyweight BHP dropped 2.2 per cent to 42.42 dollars. Rival Rio Tinto shed 4.2 per cent to close at 139.94 dollars.

National Australia Bank dropped 2.1 per cent to close at 27.73 dollars.

Woodside Petroleum dropped 3.3 per cent to 57.34 dollars.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed little changed, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times Index slipped 1.43 points to 3,124.87 on volume of 1.18 billion shares worth 1.25 billion Singapore dollars (926 million US).

“Overall, I see bargain hunting whenever the market softens,” said Yeo Kee Yan, retail market strategist at DBS Vickers Securities.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.9 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed up 11.11 points at 1,267.65.

Ang Kok Heng, chief investment officer at Phillip Capital Management, said palm oil stocks performed well as crude oil prices remained high.

The outlook for the plantation sector remains good because of CPO’s close correlation with crude oil prices, Ang said.

Sime Darby climbed 2.1 per cent to 9.55 ringgit. Telekom Malaysia rose 2.8 per cent to 11.10 ringgit. Maybank eased 0.6 per cent to 8.15 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.3 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Jakarta composite index closed up 7.49 points at 2,349.27.

Paulus Thomas, a dealer at Batavia Prosperindo, said following the extended rally recently, “investors do not seem to have enough confidence on the market’s outlook.

Bumi rose 3.9 per cent to 6,650. Telkom lost 1.1 per cent to 9,100 and rival Indosat fell 2.3 per cent to 6,500.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.32 per cent lower, dealers said. The NZX-50 gross index fell 11.46 points to 3,557.47.

Volumes certainly have been quite good for a Friday, just a generally negative tone,” James Smalley of Hamilton Hindin Greene said.

Contact Energy edged two cents higher to 9.12 dollars. Telecom rose four cents to 3.70 dollars and Fletcher Building fell a cent to 8.35.—AFP