Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Friday with investors consolidating after a poor overnight performance by Wall Street and amid fears the Chinese markets boom may have gone too far.
China jitters were helped along by tycoon Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) and HSBC executive director Peter Wong (王冬勝) who separately warned that trading in highly priced shares in China would impact on Hong Kong if the Chinese market bubble bursts.
Speculation of a rise in Chinese interest rates, as early as this weekend, added to the caution, resulting in Hong Kong falling 0.43 percent and Shanghai shedding 0.45 percent.
Of the other markets hit by issues in China, Tokyo fell 0.57 percent, Australia was off 0.84 percent, Seoul was 0.21 percent lower, Singapore shed 0.37 percent and Kuala Lumpur fell 0.19 percent.
However, rising oil prices buoyed Bangkok with its benchmark rising 0.61 percent while Wellington was up 0.11 percent at a record high on tax cuts and Manila gained 0.92 percent, also a record close, on successful elections.
Jakarta remained closed for a public holiday.
TAIPEI
Share prices closed slightly lower as regional weakness and domestic political concerns eroded early gains led by heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (
Dealers said that investors responded favorably to a second offer of 240 million TSMC American Depository Shares (ADS) to sell 1.20 billion common shares held by Royal Philips Electronics NV, priced at US$10.68 apiece.
That price is equivalent to NT$71.28 (US$2.13) per common share, and represents a 5.29 percent premium to Thursday's closing price of NT$67.70 for the company's common shares traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
However, the broad market encountered pressure in late trade amid weakness in neighboring markets and a note of caution ahead of President Chen Shui-bian's (
The weighted index closed down 3.82 points at 8,034.14.
SinoPac Securities Corp (
TSMC closed up NT$0.8 at NT$68.50.
TOKYO
Share prices ended the week on a downbeat note, falling for a second day as investors awaited a slew of banking results for fresh leads.
Dealers said a sluggish overnight performance on Wall Street hurt sentiment and a weak yen was not enough to lift the market's mood amid caution ahead of a weekend meeting of G8 finance ministers.
The NIKKEI-225 index dropped 99.02 points or 0.57 percent to 17,399.58. Volume dipped to 1.97 billion shares from 2.03 billion on Thursday.
"Although the market earlier posted gains as investors were encouraged by the weaker yen, it failed to maintain its momentum amid few other leads for buying," said Hideo Mizutani, chief strategist at Sieg Securities.
"Also, investors kept to the sidelines as they need to see the banking sector's earnings reports before taking positions," he said.
HONG KONG
Share prices closed 0.43 percent lower as Li's comment on the risks of trading highly-priced Chinese stocks sparked fears of an impending correction in Chinese markets and its adverse impact on the local bourse.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 89.77 points at 20,904.84, off a low of 20,769.10 and a high of 20,904.84.
SEOUL
Share prices closed 0.21 percent lower, coming off record highs after a lackluster performance overnight on Wall Street which saw most regional markets flat or easier.
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