HONG KONG, July 16: Asian shares closed mixed on Wednesday as concern about US financial sector woe curbed bargain hunting despite an earlier stock market slide and a plunge in crude oil prices.

Japan, Asia’s biggest bourse, was little changed following a tumble of nearly two per cent on Tuesday. Australia rose more than one per cent, while Hong Kong and Singapore edged higher, having all previously fallen heavily too.

Investors continued to be fearful of the problems at crisis-hit US mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which underpin trillion of dollars in American home loans and whose failure would be viewed as catastrophic.

Top Indian generic drugs firm Ranbaxy rose 15.02 per cent to 470.7 rupees in Mumbai after saying its sale of a majority stake to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo would go ahead despite a US probe linked to the Indian firm’s product quality.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended narrowly mixed, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 6.24 points or 0.05 per cent to end at 12,760.80, edging up from a three-month low. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 3.84 points or 0.31 per cent to 1,249.28

Stocks got off to a weak start but managed to claw back some ground after an emergency order from the US Securities and Exchange Commission aimed at reducing short selling of Wall Street brokerage firms, dealers said.

Mizuho Financial Group rose 1.8 per cent to 520,000 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group firmed 1.9 per cent to 799,000 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.23 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 48.73 points at 21,223.50. Turnover was 59.81 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.67 billion US).

Clothing retailer Esprit led the market for a second consecutive session, up 4.29 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 1.14 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 54.9 points to 4870.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 37.4 points or 0.76 per cent to 4947.5.

Market volume was 1.63 billion shares worth 6.1 billion (5.6 billion US), with 434 stocks up, 671 down and 346 unchanged.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.16 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) added 4.57 points to 2,835.32.

Volume totalled 927.7 million shares worth 1.24 billion Singapore dollars (911 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices fell 0.7 per cent, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 8.02 points to 1,119.58.

Market sentiment was already weak following the poor performance on Wall Street overnight,” one dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed up 0.2 per cent, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index ended up 3.27 points at 2,218.12.

The main index, however, fell from its high as investors swiftly cashed in gains on any rebound, a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.6 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index, which fell 40 points in morning trade, turned around in the afternoon to close 19 points higher at 3,059.36.

Telecom rose seven cents to 3.38 dollars, while power company Contact Energy closed 26 cents higher at 7.40

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 0.79 per cent lower, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index fell 100.39 points to 12,575.8.

Despite crude prices softening, there is poor appetite for equities at this stage. We advise investors to stay on the sidelines, said Advait Date, dealer with brokerage BHH Sec.—AFP