Asian stocks close mostly up
HONG KONG, April 15: Asian stocks closed mostly up on Tuesday but a fresh record for crude oil, fears for US corporate earnings and the slowing global economy limited the recovery from a steep slide in the previous session.
Japan’s stock market, Asia’s biggest, rose 0.57 per cent while Chinese shares jumped more than 1.5 per cent. But both had suffered much sharper falls on Monday.
Key economic figures are also due Wednesday from China, including inflation data. Investors expect more measures to slow mainland growth to curb the rapid rise in consumer prices.
They will also look for fresh leads in the US Federal Reserve’s Beige Book economic report, also due out on Wednesday.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices staged a modest rebound on bargain hunting after the previous day’s slide, but gains were capped by worries about upcoming US corporate results, dealers said.
The benchmark Nikkei-225 index advanced 73.07 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 12,990.58. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares climbed 9.73 points or 0.78 per cent to 1,255.97.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 934 to 647 with 141 issues unchanged. Volume rose to 1.67 billion shares from 1.51 billion on Monday.
Sumitomo Metal Mining gained 4.6 per cent at 2,025 yen and oil refiner Nippon Oil advanced 3.5 per cent to 718 yen. Trading house Mitsubishi Corp. was 2.3 per cent higher at 3,590 yen. Mizuho Financial rose 2.9 per cent to 426,000 yen.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.38 per cent, dealers said.
The Hang Seng index closed up 90.13 points at 23,901.33. Turnover was 71.45 billion Hong Kong dollars (9.17 billion US).
China Eastern Airlines fell more than 5.8 per cent. China Mobile gained 0.87 per cent at 127.10, HSBC was down 0.46 per cent at 130.10 and HKEx was down 0.28 per cent at 142.50.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 1.1 per cent, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed up 58.0 points or 1.1 per cent at 5,400.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index finished up 55.0 points or 1.0 per cent at 5,465.9.
Market volume was 1.2 billion shares worth 4.9 billion dollars (4.6 billion US), with 583 stocks up, 515 down and 343 unchanged.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed up 0.9 per cent, dealers said. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 10.77 points at 1,244.20.
Domestic political uncertainty continued to overshadow the market with pressure mounting on the prime minister.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.0 per cent higher, dealers said.
The Jakarta Composite Index closed up 21.78 points at 2,294.26.
Budi Budar, a fund manager at Samuel Securities, said he thought the market outlook now depends on global market performance. I am expecting the main index to rebound further to 2,400 points.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.92 per cent higher, dealers said.
The NZX-50 gross index rose 31.92 points to 3,502.88.
Telecom rose six cents to $3.68, energy distribution firm Vector added two cents to 1.95, and Auckland Airport was up six cents at 2.22.
MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed up 2.19 per cent, dealers said. The benchmark Mumbai Sensex rose 346.02 points to 16,153.66.
Software firm Infosys’s net profit for the fourth-quarter rose by a lower-than-expected 9.2 per cent to 12.49 billion rupees ($312.44 million).—AFP