HONG KONG, May 30: Asian stocks closed mostly up Friday with the Japanese market jumping 1.5 per cent as investors generally welcomed falling crude oil prices and better US economic data.

The Tokyo bourse added to a Thursday surge to close at its highest level in almost five months as investors shrugged off soft economic data suggesting Japan’s economy was cooling but not yet suffering a severe downturn.

The Japanese data showed drops in factory output and consumer spending, and rising unemployment. Asian economies could grow less quickly in 2008 as a US-led economic slowdown bites, but it remains unclear how badly they will do.

The rally in Asia followed a positive finish on Wall Street on Thursday in the wake of an upward revision of US first quarter economic growth, to 0.9 per cent, which calmed the nerves of some economists.

Investors also welcomed a drop in oil prices, which hit all-time highs above 135 dollars per barrel last week but were trading below 127 dollars on Friday.

India closed up 0.61 per cent after official data showed economic growth in the year to March 2008 hit nine per cent, second only to China among the world’s major economies and higher than most predictions.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 1.52 per cent as investors cheered gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen, which is good for exporters, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 214.07 points to end at 14,338.54, the best finish since January 10. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 27.51 points or 1.99 per cent to 1,408.14.

Volume rose to 2.51 billion shares from 1.95 billion on Thursday.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed up 0.6 per cent, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 149.13 points at 24,533.12. Turnover was 85.51 billion Hong Kong dollars (11.0 billion US).

Sinopec was up 5.5 per cent 7.86 Hong Kong dollars. Airline Cathay Pacific Airways rose three per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed 1.0 per cent lower, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 54.7 points at 5,654.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 43.3 points to 5,773.9. Turnover was about 10.4 billion dollars (9.9 billion US).

Origin Energy grabbed the spotlight after rejecting a sweetened 13.6 billion takeover offer from British energy giant BG Group.

Origin closed up 6.9 per cent at a record 15.69 dollars.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.01 per cent higher, dealers said.

The blue chip Straits Times Index closed up 31.84 points at 3,192.62 on volume of 1.94 billion shares worth 2.83 billion Singapore dollars (2.08 billion US).

David Cohen, chief economist for Asia at Action Economics, said it is still premature to rule out the possibility of a US recession in the coming quarters.

But people are feeling a little bit better that at least the slowdown will be mild and global growth can continue.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.1 per cent higher, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 14.28 points to 1,276.10.

Genting, Asia’s largest casino operator, jumped 5.1 per cent to 6.15 ringgit. AirAsia rose 3.0 per cent to 1.04 ringgit. Sime Darby climbed 0.5 per cent to 9.50 ringgit. Tenaga jumped 2.9 per cent to 7.05 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed little changed, dealers said. The Jakarta Composite Index closed down 2.61 points at 2,444.35.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed up 1.71 per cent, dealers said.

The NZX-50 gross index rose 61.11 points to close at 3,624.2.

Telecom rose six cents to 4.02 dollars, Fletcher Building jumped 22 cents to 8.00 and Contact Energy soared 37 cents to 9.48.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices closed 0.61 per cent higher, dealers said.The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex rose 99.31 points to 16,415.57.

Positive GDP data saw fresh local fund buying, said Hiten Mehta, fund manager with Fortune Financial Services.—AFP