Asian shares close mostly down
HONG KONG, Feb 7: Asian shares closed mostly down on Thursday in quiet trade with many markets shut for the Lunar New Year holiday, but Japan rallied despite ongoing worries about the ailing US economy.
The Nikkei-225 index rose nearly one per cent but the other major market open for trading, Sydney, edged down by 0.2 per cent.
Mumbai slumped more than three per cent while Bangkok, Manila and Wellington also ended the day down. Other Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday and will be shut again on Friday.
Fears that the US economy is headed for recession continued to overshadow trading. The concerns have pummelled share prices since the start of the year.
A default crisis among so-called “subprime” -- or riskier -- US mortgages has ballooned into a global credit crunch.
There are fears the US, a key buyer of Asian goods, is heading towards recession despite sharp interest rate cuts and a planned 145-billion-dollar economic stimulus package.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 0.82 per cent, recovering some of their recent heavy losses as bargain hunters helped the Nikkei close above the key 13,000 points level, dealers said.
They said investors managed to set aside worries about the fallout from the US subprime loan crisis, although sentiment remained fragile.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 107.91 points to 13,207.15, a day after tumbling by some 646 points.
Gainers outpaced decliners 863 to 750, with 113 issues unchanged. Turnover fell to 2.37 billion shares from 2.51 billion shares on Wednesday.
Stocks opened lower following losses on Wall Street overnight, with the Nikkei dropping below 13,000 for the first time in two weeks.
SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 0.2 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 12.7 points to 5,596.7 while the broader All Ordinaries dropped 9.3 points to 5,668.3.
Volume traded was 1.4 billion shares worth 5.86 billion dollars (5.23 billion US).
It’s been a fairly ordinary day, in line with what we got from (Wall Street) last night, said Andrew Sekely, Intersuisse’s head of Australian equities.
The best thing that can be said is it has recovered quite nicely from its lowest point. Index heavyweight BHP Billiton recovered from early losses and Rio Tinto finished off its lows as investors took the view that BHP’s attempt to take over its mining rival will be a protracted affair.
BHP closed up 0.7 per cent at 36.92 dollars, after falling as low as $36.07. Rio ended down 0.1 per cent at $127.0 after sinking to $124.0 earlier in the session.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.48 per cent lower, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 53.81 points to 3,636.20 on turnover worth 99.25 million dollars (77.34 million US).
Humphrey Sherratt of Goldman Sachs JBWere said the damage was not as bad as it could have been given that US stocks fell nearly 3.00 per cent on Tuesday and 0.50 per cent the following day.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 3.38 pc lower, dealers said. The 30-share Sensex index fell 612.56 points to 17,526.93, off the day’s high of 18,198.68.
The market has followed the bad news out of the US, said Jayesh Gandhi, vice president of Morgan Stanley Investment.
—AFP