Asian shares close mostly up
HONG KONG, Feb 12: Asian shares closed mostly up on Tuesday but the modest rally failed to inspire investor confidence after yet more gloomy news about the subprime mortgage default crisis in the US.
Singapore’s market rose more than two per cent while both Australia and Hong Kong gained more than one per cent. But Japan, the region’s biggest bourse, closed little changed.
China’s financial markets were shut again for the long Lunar New Year holiday. Taiwan reopened Tuesday after its holiday break but fell more than 1.5 per cent.
Such fears have led to sharp losses in Asian stocks since the start of 2008.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed little changed, dealers said.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 4.72 points or 0.04 per cent to 13,021.96. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares slipped 1.04 points or 0.08 per cent to 1,286.10.
Trading volume was 2.16 billion shares compared with 2.35 billion Friday.
Japanese financial markets were closed Monday.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 1.35 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 305.56 points at 22,921.67. Turnover was low at 67.22 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.62 billion US).
HSBC rose 1.00 dollars to 110.30, HKEx was up $1.40 at 160.30, China Mobile was up 2.00 dollars at 114.70 and China Life rose $0.20 to 28.40.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 1.3 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 70.5 points at 5,608.1, while the broader All Ordinaries ended 66.3 points higher at 5,669.4.
At least the market has got its nose in front, but clearly the market is pretty fractious at the moment as you can see by responses to earnings reports, said Michael Heffernan of Austock Securities.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 2.02 per cent higher, dealers said.
The blue chip Straits Times index closed 57.94 points higher at 2,926.23 on volume of 1.49 billion shares worth 1.55 billion Singapore dollars (1.09 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.7 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 10.14 points to 1,417.52.
Expectations that elections will be held soon and the continued strength of palm oil prices have contributed to the local market’s recent resilience, said Wee Kim Hong, head of research at MA Securities.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed little changed, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite index closed down 2.69 points at 2,592.07.
A sell-off in Bumi prompted investors to also unload other coal miner stocks, such as Bukit Asam and Indo Tambangraya in the second session, Dongsuh Kolibindo analyst Ryan Ariadi Suwarno said.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed little changed, dealers said.
The benchmark NZX-50 index ended the day up 1.90 points at 3,574.84.
Overall, the tone was improving towards the end of the day and not everyone was doom and gloom, unlike most other days, said Byron Burke of ABN Amro Craigs.
Telecom finished five cents up at 4.00 dollars, Fletcher Building was down four cents at 9.15 and Contact Energy rose four cents to 7.69.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed down 0.14 per cent, dealers said.
The 30-share benchmark Sensex index fell 22.9 points to 16,608.01.
Reliance Power, a near-three-billion-dollar flotation, slid nearly five per cent after slumping almost 18 per cent on its trading debut on Monday.—AFP