HONG KONG, May 29: Asian stocks closed mostly up on Thursday after Japan surged over three per cent as investors looked on the bright side of recent data from the struggling US economy.

The Japanese market powered to a rise of 3.03 per cent, with analysts saying investors appeared to be shifting money from bonds into stocks on growing optimism about the prospects for equities.

The rally in Tokyo followed a rise on Wall Street on Wednesday in the wake of figures showing April’s durable goods orders in the US rose 2.5 per cent when the transport sector was excluded.

Traders said unsubstantiated rumours that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il had died had excited the market briefly before Seoul dismissed them as baseless.

Elsewhere, South Korea rose nearly two per cent but the country’s controversial decision to lift a ban on US beef imports -- despite widespread protests -- dominated the spotlight.

Australia was up more than one per cent, while Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan also ended higher, but India closed in the red, continuing its bad run this year.

The Chinese stock market fell over 1.5 per cent as reports said China’s 410 key state-owned enterprises posted a combined profit of 352.6 billion yuan (50.4 billion dollars) in the first four months of 2008, down 1.3 per cent year-on-year.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices staged a powerful rally with the Nikkei index surging 3.0 per cent as a weaker yen and overnight gains on Wall Street lifted investor sentiment, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 415.03 points or 3.03 per cent at 14,124.47, ending above the key 14,000 line for the first time in almost a week.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gained 31.94 points or 2.37 per cent to 1,380.63.

Volume slipped to 1.95 billion shares from 2.04 billion shares on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.55 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed up 134.48 points at 24,383.99. Turnover was 64.09 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.21 billion US).

PCCW also supported the main index as the telecoms firm surged more than nine per cent after announcing that it will reorganise itself into a new holding firm and sell up to a 45 per cent stake in the new entity.

Kenny Tang, associate director at Tung Tai Securities, said trade “remained boring” and that the market rose only due to gains in key blue-chips.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed up 1.1 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 61.3 points at 5,709.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 62.7 points to 5,817.2. Volume was around 5.8 billion dollars (5.6 billion US dollars).

Santos shot up 11.1 per cent to close at a record 21.06 after announcing a deal with Petronas. Miner BHP Billiton climbed two per cent to 46.02 while Rio Tinto added 1.7 per cent to 144.37.

The bank Westpac rose 3.0 per cent to 22.85. Its takeover target St. George gained 0.5 per cent to 32.70.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.89 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times Index rose 28.00 points to 3,160.78 on volume of 1.23 billion shares worth 1.78 billion Singapore dollars (1.31 billion US).

United Overseas Bank gained 20 cents to 20.02 Singapore dollars. CapitaLand rose 13 cents to 6.38. Singapore Airlines added 18 cents to 16.08.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed little changed, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 1.24 points at 1,261.82. Volume traded was 457.0 million shares worth 1.23 billion ringgit (378 dollars).

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is facing calls to step down.

Telekom Malaysia was down 0.04 ringgit at 3.12 ringgit, Malayan Banking declined 0.05 to 7.45 while Tenaga Nasional fell 0.10 to 6.85.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed up 0.45 per cent, dealers said.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 16.10 points to 3,563.11.

Trading was mixed, stock-specific issues driving the market, said First NZ Capital director Philip Hunter.

Telecom was up three cents at 3.96 dollars, while Contact Energy was up a cent at 9.11. Fletcher Building rose 18 cents to 7.78 dollars.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 1.27 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex fell 209.11 points to 16,316.26.

Volatility rose as investors are still unsure of global trends, said a dealer at the Sahara Mutual fund.—AFP