HONG KONG, July 18: Asian shares closed mostly down on Friday as bargain hunters retreated despite sharply lower oil prices and a Wall Street surge, with high inflation and US economic woe looming large.

Taiwan led the decliners among major markets, falling more than two per cent, while Australia and South Korea ended about one per cent down at the end of a highly volatile week for global equities amid jitters over US banking results.

The bourse in Japan, Asia's biggest economy, fell 0.65 per cent, but Chinese shares jumped nearly 3.5 per cent, while Hong Kong also finished in the black.

World markets were rocked this week by turmoil in the US financial services sector after the rescue of mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the collapse of bank IndyMac.

Investors were waiting for results from banking titan Citigroup later Friday. The firm has been hit hard by the collapsed subprime or high-risk home loan market in the United States.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 0.65 per cent lower, dealers said.The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 84.25 points to close at 12,803.70. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended down 11.22 points or 0.89 per cent at 1,252.43.

Players are also waiting for results of earnings of major US companies,Sato said.

Mizuho Financial Group ended down 0.6 per cent at 541,000 yen after briefly rising to 558,000 yen in the morning session.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.64 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 139.47 points to 21,874.19. Turnover was 59.57 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.64 billion US).

Francis Lun, a general manager with Fulbright Securities, said: “This is not a dead cat bounce. I believe such gains are sustainable as global inflation takes a breather from the receding oil prices.”The gains were led by HSBC, which was up more than 2.5 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian stocks closed down 1.2 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 60.6 points to 4,840.4, while the broader All Ordinaries slipped 62.1 points to 4,915.3.

Turnover was 1.25 billion shares worth$ 4.7 billion (4.6 billion US).

That has effectively spooked the market, Justin Gallagher, the head of Sydney sales trading at ABN AMRO, told Dow Jones Newswires.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.57 per cent weaker, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index finished 16.37 points lower at 2,847.73.

Volume was 1.28 billion Singapore dollars (941 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended 1.4 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 16.13 points to 1,105.04.

Investors are likely to adopt a cautious stance next week ahead of the June CPI (inflation) data (due July 23), a dealer told Dow Jones Newswires.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 1.2 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite index fell 26.57 points to 2,141.14.

Overnight gains on Wall Street and a recovery in several Asian markets failed to improve the sentiment here, a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.95 per cent higher, dealers said.

They said the market drew momentum from another strong showing on Wall Street.

The benchmark NZX-50 Index rose 29.5 points to 3,120.91.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 3.99 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index rose 523.55 points to 13,635.4, its second straight day of gains.—AFP