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Taipei, Seoul set positive tone in regional trading

Asian stocks shrugged off a mixed performance by Wall Street on Friday, ending the week with further gains and benchmarks at historical peaks or multi-year highs.

Taipei and Seoul were among the best on the day, with both markets gaining more than one percent on strong buying by foreign investors.

Tokyo made slight gains and again closed at its highest level since mid-2000 and its performance was mirrored elsewhere in the region. Sydney and Wellington closed at record highs. Singapore finished at a six-year high, while Manila and Shanghai also gained.

Bangkok rose modestly ahead of Sunday's elections, however profit taking pushed Mumbai off its record peak, Hong Kong eased and Kuala Lumpur was flat ahead of the government's release of a five year spending plan.

Markets in Jakarta were closed for a public holiday.

Taipei share prices closed 1.04 percent higher after an as-expected interest rate hike and as technology stocks forged ahead further in line with sustained gains on NASDAQ.

Dealers said foreign investors were back in evidence, looking at large-cap stocks, particularly heavyweight semiconductor shares.

The weighted index rose 67.91 points at 6,613.97 on turnover of NT$110.42 billion (US$3.40 billion).

SinoPac Securities Corp (建華證券) assistant vice president Alvin Teng (鄧可欣) said that local technology stocks rose in line with the gains made by their US counterparts.

Anticipation of month-on-month growth in corporate sales for last month also boosted sentiment, Teng said.

"Liquidity returned to the stock market; investors seemed to be more optimistic [about the bourse] now," he added.

Tokyo

Tokyo share prices eked out small gains in late trade to close at their highest level for over five years after data showed further signs of a recovery in the economy.

Dealers said the market managed to recover from an early bout of profit-taking to extend its winning streak to six trading days, with sentiment buoyed by a drop in unemployment to a seven-year low and a further easing of deflation.

The NIKKEI-225 index rose 14.32 points or 0.08 percent to 17,059.66, the highest closing level since August 2000. Volume dropped to 1.66 billion shares from 2.22 billion shares on Thursday.

Investors welcomed news on Friday that Japan's unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low of 4.1 percent in February from 4.5 percent in January.

"The unemployment data confirmed the recovery of the Japanese economy," said Hideyuki Suzuki, a strategist at SBI Securities.

Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) gained 0.5 percent in February from a year earlier, a fourth consecutive monthly rise.

Seoul share prices closed 1.6 percent higher, with investors shrugging off Wall Street's mixed performance.

Dealers said strong program buying and foreign investor support offset massive profit-taking by retail investors, leading the index to rise for a seventh trading session.

The KOSPI index closed up 21.46 points at 1,359.60.

Hong Kong share prices closed 0.48 percent lower, giving up early gains as profit-taking in China Mobile intensified in late trade.

The Hang Seng index lost 75.65 points at 15,805.04.

"Heavy profit-taking in China Mobile led to the market's fall. Other blue chips were also lower as some investors locked in profits after recent rises," said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai Financial group.

Kitty Chan, director at Rexcapital Asset Management, said investors refrained from taking positions ahead of the weekend and also due to expectations that the market will undergo a correction in the second quarter.

"I think investors will be more cautious... as the market has accumulated huge gains in the first quarter," she said.

Shanghai

Shanghai share prices recovered from early losses to close 0.28 percent higher, with a modest technical rebound supported by solid gains in the financials and metal stocks.

Dealers said the bounce was to be expected after Thursday's downturn but it would appear the market will correct further, having failed repeatedly to hold above very strong resistance at 1,300 points on the Shanghai Composite Index.

The Shanghai A-share Index added 3.80 points to 1,361.33 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 2.70 points or 0.82 percent at 333.94. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B-shares, rose 3.58 points or 0.28 percent at 1,298.30.

Sydney share prices bucked losses on Wall Street to close with another record flourish as rising metal and energy prices provided support for the push into uncharted territory.

Dealers said resources giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto boosted the market as they rose to all-time highs on the back of record copper prices.

The SP/ASX 200 index rose 14.7 points or 0.29 percent to 5,129.7, hitting its third record finish in a row.

Singapore

Singapore share prices closed 0.49 percent higher led by strong interest in property stocks.

The Straits Times Index rose 12.36 points to 2,533.40.

"I believe the market will continue to focus on property and tech firms. I guess concerns over high interest rates will take a back seat," Westcomb Financial research head Chew Sok-chuang said.

In Kuala Lumpur share prices closed little changed ahead of the release of the government's five-year development plan.

Dealers said select construction stocks were lower on profit-taking, while lower liners were among the most actively traded on speculative interest.

The composite index slipped 0.34 points to 926.63.

Bangkok share prices closed 0.31 percent higher, supported by the energy stocks as oil continued higher, but the broader market was stalled as investors waited on weekend elections.

Dealers said investors were taking a wait-and-see stance ahead of Sunday's polls, called by embattled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bid to end the country's political turmoil.

The composite index rose 2.26 points to 733.25.

Manila share prices closed 0.7 percent higher, snapping a four-day losing streak on late window-dressing for the end of the first quarter. The composite index rose 15.31 points to 2,195.95.

"Fund managers rushed to boost their portfolios that will be presented to clients at the end of the quarter," James Lago of Westlink Global Equities Inc said.

Investors were also taking positions ahead of the changes in the composition of the 30-company composite index that will take effect on Monday.

Wellington share prices rose 0.20 percent for another record finish as window-dressing by institutions at the end of the quarter turned around a weak start.

The NZSX-50 gross index added 7.36 points to 3,702.48.

Mumbai share prices fell 0.24 percent breaking a consecutive five-day rise, with retail investors and funds trading cautiously and not keen to build positions ahead of the weekend.

Dealers said the markets saw an new intra-day record at 11,356.9 in morning trade but the SENSEX retraced on selling pressure in banking, software and automobile stocks.

The 30-share SENSEX index fell 27.08 points to 11,279.96.
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