HONG KONG, March 24: Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday with bargain hunters dominating trade, however, broader fears over the state of the United States economy continued to weigh on sentiment.

Business remained subdued with some markets still closed for Easter but dealers said Wall Street advances last Thursday before the break added a touch of optimism that the worst of the housing and credit crisis may be over.

A multi-pronged offensive by the Federal Reserve to keep the financial system functioning and slash interest rates aggressively appears to have calmed troubled markets for now, even though many investors remain cautious.

Taipei, up 3.99 per cent, led gains after the outcome of Saturday’s election raised the prospect of improved ties with China. Singapore surged 3.64 per cent Seoul rose 0.6 per cent, and Kuala Lumpur was 1.0 per cent higher.

Mumbai was 1.96 per cent higher, Manila gained 1.8 per cent, Bangkok rose 0.49 per cent and Jakarta rose 0.7 per cent while Tokyo finished the day steady.

However, Shanghai bucked the trend with a dramatic 4.49 per cent plunge as fund managers slashed their positions in banks and PetroChina.

Sydney, Hong Kong, and Wellington were closed for public holidays.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended mixed as investors awaited fresh clues on the health of the global economy following a long holiday weekend for major overseas markets.

The market welcomed a rise in the dollar, which neared the symbolic 100 yen level, but a government survey showed Japanese business confidence slumping to a four-year low due to jitters about the world economic outlook.

The Nikkei-225 index ended down a marginal 2.48 points at 12,480.09.

Activity was subdued in the absence of trading leads from overseas where many major markets were closed on Friday. Turnover dropped to 1.6 billion shares from 1.82 billion on Friday.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 3.64 per cent higher on bargain hunting after the market’s recent sharp losses amid fears of a recession in the United States.

The Straits Times Index jumped 102.88 points to 2,927.79 on volume of 1.22 billion Singapore shares worth 1.49 billion Singapore dollars (1.1 billion US).

Barring unexpected nasty shocks from the US, the local market should renew its recovery past 3,000 to 3,100 (points), which is a modest target,” said Najeeb Jarhom, head of research for retail investors at Amfraser Securities.

Investors took their cue from Wall Street’s performance before it closing for a public holiday on Friday, as the Dow jumped 260 points on bargain-hunting and a milder-than-expected drop in a regional manufacturing report.

Jarhom said the 3,000-point mark should not be a strong resistance level “if the coming reporting season for first quarter 2008 and fiscal year ending March contains pleasant earnings surprises from blue chip companies.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.0 per cent higher due to bargain hunting in selected bluechips such as financial, construction and mining-related stocks.

The composite index closed up 11.96 points at 1,201.02 on volume of 513 million shares, valued at 909 million ringgit (285 million dollars).

The market was up on a technical rebound today (after recent losses),said Phua Kwee Hock, an analyst at SJ Securities.

The rising dollar and falling gold price helped to improve investor sentiment,” he added.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices ended 0.7 per cent higher, lifted by a technical rebound in late trade in select big caps led by index heavyweight Telkom, coal producer Bumi Resources and Bank Mandiri.

The composite index was up 15.73 points at 2,339.29 on volume of 1.75 billion shares valued at 3.03 trillion rupiah (329.71 million dollars).

Trading volume was thin, indicating that some market players opted to stay on the sidelines after the long weekend, awaiting fresh leads.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices rose 1.96 per cent after global oil prices fell from recent record highs.

Dealers also said bank stocks led the gains as investors saw value after last week’s US Federal Reserve 75 basis point cut in its key lending rate.

The Sensex index rose 294.57 points to 15,289.4.

This is a relief rally after a corrective phase, said Bhaskar Kapadia, a partner with brokerage Pyramid Securities.—AFP