HONG KONG, Aug 26: Asian shares closed mostly down on Tuesday after a Wall Street tumble and fears about the global credit crunch rattled investors.

The mainland Chinese market led the decliners among major bourses, tumbling more than 2.5 per cent on concerns about slowing economic growth.

The markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore also slipped into the red, but each limited losses to less than one percent.

In Sydney, shares in mining giant Rio Tinto bucked the trend to close up 1.4 per cent after the firm said it had more than doubled first-half net profit to a record US$6.91 billion.

Wall Street had tumbled on Monday after data showed only a modest rise in US home sales along with falling prices.

Sentiment was also undermined by worries that Lehman Brothers may not be able to get a major investment from the South Korean-based Korea Development Bank.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed down 0.78 per cent led by financial issues after jitters resurfaced about the fallout from a credit crunch on Wall Street.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s key Nikkei-225 index dropped 99.95 points to end at 12,778.71. The benchmark has fallen for five out of the past six trading days and is close to a near five-month low of 12,666.04 reached on Friday.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 9.90 points or 0.80 per cent to 1,229.35.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed 0.23 per cent down, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 48.13 points to 21,056.66. Turnover was 47.96 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.15 billion US).

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 0.2 percent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 7.4 points to 5,007.5, while the broader All Ordinaries lost 7.8 points to close at 5,082.3.

Turnover was 1.03 billion shares worth 4.3 billion (3.7 billion US).

Head of dealing at IG Markets, Oliver Stevens, said the Australian market finished very strongly after falling to below 4,900 earlier in the day following a sharp fall in the US.

That was quite some comeback, Stevens said. A rally in financial, industrial and utility stocks nearly saw the market close higher on the day, finishing just seven points in the red.

ANZ rose 1.3 per cent to $16.12. Commonwealth Bank shed 0.7 per cent to $42.35.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.96 per cent lower, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 26.26 points to 2,707.19. Volume totalled 855 million shares worth 962 million Singapore dollars (US$ 628m).

Singapore Airlines fell 16 cents to 15.04 Singapore dollars, Singapore Telecommunications dropped three cents to 3.47 dollars and Neptune Orient Lines was off 11 cents to 2.19.

For the banks, DBS lost 16 cents to 17.62, United Overseas Bank tumbled 34 cents to 18.84 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp eased eight cents to 8.05.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended 0.8 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 8.23 points to close at 1,070.50.

Dealers said investors were jittery ahead of the outcome of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s by-election.

Among heavyweights, Maybank increased 0.15 ringgit to 7.50 ringgit, Sime Darby declined 0.10 ringgit to 6.45 ringgit while Tenaga slipped 0.20 ringgit to 8.00 ringgit and Telekom was steady at 3.50 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed 0.9 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 19.68 points to 2,107,55.

Selling by foreign funds in telecommunications, banks and mining blue chips drove the main index lower,” a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed down 0.18 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 5.91 points to 3,321.00.

Not a bad performance, all things considered, said Grant Williamson of Hamilton Hindin Greene. Contact Energy rose nine cents to 8.40. It said annual net profit fell one percent to 237.1 million dollars.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 0.22 per cent higher, dealers said. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 31.87 points to 14,482.22.

The markets were volatile ahead of inflation data and the monthly futures contract expiry on Thursday. Investors remained cautious due to inflationary worries, said a dealer at brokerage Jamnadas Morarjee.

—AFP