HONG KONG, Nov 7: Asian stock markets were mixed on Friday after reversing heavy early losses caused by growing investor fears about a deep worldwide recession.

A second plunge on Wall Street overnight led regional bourses to open sharply down as the euphoria of Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential election victory was all but forgotten.

Bargain hunters stepped in to reduce losses. Tokyo closed 3.55 percent lower after falling seven percent in mid-morning trade, while Sydney lost 2.4 per cent, a day after shedding more than four per cent.

However, Hong Kong ended 3.3 per cent higher -- the day after a 7.7 per cent drop -- and Seoul soared almost four percent, while Taipei added one percent, Shanghai grew 1.75 per cent and Singapore advanced 2.43 percent.

Tokyo was dragged down after Toyota Motor said it had slashed its annual net profit forecast by more than half and posted an earnings slump of 48 per cent for the first six months of the fiscal year.

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei stock index ended down 3.55 per cent.

The benchmark fell 316.14 points to 8,583.00.

The Topix index of all first section issues fell 30.30 points, or 3.33 per cent, to 879.00.

Toyota shares fell 9.2 percent to 3,460 yen.

Hefty interest rate cuts in Europe also underscored recession fears there.

Toyota’s rivals were hit by the gloomy profit outlook. Honda Motor sank 8.7 percent to 2,260 yen and Nissan Motor slid 7.2 percent to 422 yen.

HONG KONG: Shares closed 3.3 per cent higher.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 453.39 points to 14,243.43. Turnover was 48.80 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.26 billion US).

But they warned that any negative overseas developments could send the index sharply lower.

HSBC’s cut was later matched by Standard Chartered Bank and Hang Seng Bank.

China Construction Bank gained five percent and China Life rose 3.3 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 2.4 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 98.4 points to 4,051.3, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 99.9 points to 4,006.6.

Lower base metal and oil prices pushed the major miners lower with BHP Billiton falling 4.4 per cent to 27.93 dollars and Rio Tinto losing 8.6 per cent to 72.27 dollars.

Woodside Petroleum dropped 6.7 per cent to close at $39.80 and Santos slipped 3.2 per cent to $13.81 .

Commonwealth Bank shares gained 0.7 per cent to $40.07 but ANZ dropped 3.9 per cent to $16.29 .

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 2.43 per cent up.

The main Straits Times Index rose 44.29 points to 1,863.49 on volume of 1.51 billion shares worth 1.38 billion Singapore dollars (924.11 million US).

DBS Group rose 30 cents to 11.40, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp was up 12 cents to 5.24 and United Overseas Bank was down 24 cents to 13.14.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.2 per cent lower.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 2.00 points to close at 893.95.

Bumiputra-Commerce shed 1.6 percent at 6.15 ringgit, Genting lost 2.2 percent at 4.50 ringgit and Sime Darby was down 2.4 per cent at 6.20 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended up 2.3 per cent.

The Jakarta Composite Index rose 30.47 points to 1,338.36.

Telkom climbed seven percent to 6,100 rupiah, Bank Mandiri added 7.6 percent to 1,850 rupiah and coal miner Bukit Asam jumped 12 percent to 6,150 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 1.71 per cent lower.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 48.48 points to 2,791.65.

Market leader Telecom hit a new record intraday low of $2.19 after posting a 34 per cent fall in first quarter net earnings to $149 million.

But it recovered some ground to close down just a cent at $2.26.

Sky TV fell 14 cents to $3.71 adding to a 25 cent drop Thursday.

Auckland International Airport eased four cents to $1.75 and The Warehouse eased 11 cents to 3.90.

MUMBAI: Indian shares rose 2.36 per cent. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index rose 230.07 points to 9,964.29.—AFP