HONG KONG, Aug 8: Asian shares close mixed on Friday with a near 4.5 per cent plunge in Shanghai damaging hopes that the Beijing Games will help to boost the ailing Chinese stock market.

The key index in Shanghai sank to a 19-month low, and analysts said it could slide further despite suggestions from the securities authorities that they wanted to stabilise the market during the Olympic Games.

Hong Kong and Singapore also finished down, but Taiwan rose more than 2.5 per cent and Japan edged up. Australia finished Friday flat.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 0.33 per cent, rebounding from early losses as investors shrugged off an overnight fall on Wall Street, encouraged by a weaker yen which helps exporters.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 43.42 points to end at 13,168.41. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 1.12 points or 0.09 per cent to 1,259.93.

The fact that Toyota didn’t revise downward its earnings forecast was a plus too, he added.

Toyota Motor rose 5.5 per cent to 4,830 yen and Mazda Motor firmed 2.6 per cent to 589 yen. Shipping firms dropped. Mitsui OSK Lines fell 5.9 per cent to 1,200 yen and Nippon Yusen lost 2.9 per cent to 845 yen.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 0.99 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 218.99 points at 21,885.21. Turnover totalled 63.95 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.19 billion US).

Castor Pang, an investment strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial, said trading is likely to remain sluggish next week.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed flat, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 2.9 points at 4,986.2 while the broader All Ordinaries rose 7.6 points to 5,037.6. Turnover was 1.23 billion shares worth $5.1 billion (4.5 billion US).

Westpac shares rose 1.7 per cent to $23.55. The country’s fifth largest bank, St George Bank, which Westpac hopes to take over, gained 0.4 per cent to $29.42.

Market heavyweight miner BHP Billiton shed 0.1 per cent to 37.15 dollars while competitor and potential takeover target Rio Tinto added 0.9 per cent to $116.00.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 0.96 per cent lower, tracking Wall Street’s overnight decline, with worries about weaker corporate earnings on the domestic front hurting sentiment, dealers said.

The Straits Times Index fell 27.17 points to 2,807.54. Volume was 1.28 billion Singapore dollars (917 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.8 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 9.25 points to 1,120.31.

IOI Corp fell 1.4 per cent at 4.98 ringgit, KL Kepong was down 3.2 per cent at 12.00 and Maybank was down two per cent at 7.55.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares closed little changed, dealers said.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 11.81 points or 0.1 per cent to 2,195.93.

Telkom fell 1.3 per cent, Bank Mandiri slipped 2.5 per cent and Astra International fell 0.2 per cent.

Bucking the trend, coal miners Bumi Resources added 5.6 per cent, Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam rose 4.7 per cent and Adaro gained 2.6 per cent.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares closed down 0.62 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 21.07 points to 3,357.82.

Telecom closed down 28 cents or 7.6 per cent at $3.40, after the company reported net profit excluding abnormals fell 26 per cent to 713 million dollars in the year to June.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed 0.33 per cent higher, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 50.57 points to 15,167.82.

The markets were rangebound with no sharp buying or selling seen, said Bhaskar Kapadia, partner at brokerage Pyramid Securities.—AFP