Asian shares mostly up
HONG KONG, Jan 9: Asian shares closed mostly up on Wednesday despite a slide on Wall Street with the Malaysian and Indonesian stock markets rising to record highs.
Malaysia edged up 0.1pc to its fourth consecutive record close amid continuing speculation that the country is set for a snap general election.
The Indonesian bourse jumped 1.6pc, due in part to palm oil and mining companies, in its last trading session of the week ahead of public holidays.
Elsewhere, most of the region’s bigger markets closed higher, including a 1.86pc rise in Hong Kong, a 1.53pc jump in Taiwan and a 1.0pc rally in South Korea.
Only Sydney among the major bourses bucked the trend, falling 0.7pc.
The positive day in Asia came despite a slump on Wall Street on Tuesday amid concerns the US economy will slow and may even slip into recession.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices rallied from a near 19-month low as investors scooped up beaten down stocks despite worries about the health of the US economy, dealers said.
They said that hopes of another US interest rate cut provided support, helping the market here to overcome a negative lead from Wall Street.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed up 70.49 points or 0.49pc at 14,599.16, after striking an early low of 14,271.57, which was the worst intra-day level since June 2006.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 21.23 points or 1.51pc to 1,424.29.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,265 to 366, with 98 issues unchanged.
Volume traded rose to 2.24bn shares from 2.11 billion Tuesday.
Foreign and Japanese funds both gave ‘buy’ orders when the Nikkei index was trading under 14,500, said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 1.86pc as property stocks rose on hopes of US interest rate cuts, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 502.95 points at 27,615.85. Turnover was 120.32 billion Hong Kong dollars (15.43 billion US).
The rebound was due to some bargain-hunting in properties and China banks after early falls ... the market still does not have clear direction, said Peter Lai, sales director at DBS Vickers.
China Mobile rose $2.60 at 136.60. China Construction Bank surged 6.12pc to 6.59. HSBC was down $0.40 at 127.90.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 0.7pc after falls in the US overnight, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 40.4 points at 6,087.7 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index closed down 46.2 points or 0.7pc at 6,159.5.
A total of 1.66bn shares worth 5.91 billion Australian dollars (5.22 billion US) changed hands.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.19pc higher as investors temporarily set aside concerns about the US economy, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index increased 6.26 points to 3,344.53 on volume of 2.02bn shares worth 2.44bn Singapore dollars (1.71bn US).
Valuations are quite attractive for the banks... Investors should gradually accumulate the stocks but at the same time they should be mindful of the uncertain external environment, said Pauline Lee from Kim Eng Securities.
DBS Group Holdings gained 26 cents to 20.30 Singapore dollars, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was up 15 cents to 8.24 and United Overseas Bank increased 16 cents to 19.00.
Singapore Airlines increased 16 cents to 16.86 despite having its bid for a stake in China Eastern Airlines rejected by minority shareholders of the Chinese carrier.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.1pc higher with the benchmark extending its record-breaking rise for a fourth session, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) rose 1.92 points to a new record close of 1,491.66, off an all-time intra-day high of 1,498.86.
Volume was 1.65bn shares, valued at 3.37bn ringgit ($1.0bn).
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.6pc up at a fresh record high, dealers said.
The Jakarta composite index closed up 44.64 points at a record 2,830.26.
Volume was 3.85bn shares valued at 5.71 trillion rupiah (605 million dollars).
PT Henan Putihrai analyst Thombos Sitanggang said Astra International, and palm oil and mining companies, helped push the market up.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.41pc lower amid weak investor sentiment, dealers said.The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 16.23 points to 3,912.17 on turnover worth 104.2 million dollars (80.0 million US).
Nigel Scott, a retail equities adviser with ABN Amro Craigs, said the market had been drifting for a couple of months and sentiment was weak overseas.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed little changed after three straight days of record gains, dealers said.
The benchmark 30-share Mumbai stock exchange Sensex index fell 3.55 points or 0.02pc to 20,869.78 after hitting a new intra-day high of 21,113.13.
The market will await earnings data, said Hiten Mehta, a fund manager with Fortune Financial Services.—AFP