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Asian stocks rise while traders consolidate positions

Investors look at stock price monitors at a securities company in Shanghai, China, on Friday. Chinese stocks recovered from early losses to post their largest one-day gain in six months on Friday, led by heavyweight financial companies and property developers. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 4.58 percent to 3,781.35, its biggest daily rise in percentage terms since it surged 4.7 percent on Jan. 15. PHOTO: AP

Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday with investors consolidating their positions on local issues after Wall Street failed to deliver a solid overnight lead.

Brighter prospects for the IT sector, corporate upgrades and easing inflation and interest rates helped Seoul, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Mumbai to all close at record highs. Bangkok performed well on the day with a 1.03 percent gain amid military approval for a new constitution.

Taipei rose 0.43 percent and Kuala Lumpur was up 0.33 percent, while Singapore gained 0.29 percent on support for banks.

Shanghai was again the standout with a 4.58 percent surge amid heavy bargain hunting in response to Thursday's 5.25 percent sell-off.

However, elsewhere benchmarks finished lower with profit taking on the back of recent sharp gains contributing to falls, particularly in Manila, which was the worst on the day with a 1.14 percent slump.

TAIPEI

Share prices closed 0.43 percent higher as investors took rotational interest in stocks across the board, finishing the week with a fifth consecutive daily gain.

A stock trader watches his monitor as he trades over the phone at a brokerage firm in Mumbai on Friday. The benchmark 30-share SENSEX index rose as much as 145.33 points or 0.97 percent to a new intraday all-time record high of 15,007.22 before retracting marginally to 14,983.94, up 122.05 points or 0.82 percent. PHOTO: AFP

Dealers said toward the end of trading, however, price movements became more rangebound as some investors took profit ahead of the weekend and after Wall Street finished a lackluster session overnight.

The TAIEX closed up 39.53 points at 9,188.31 on turnover of NT$210.72 billion (US$6.42 billion).

"Some profit-taking made perfect sense. Investors had every reason to lock in at least some of the very significant gains they accumulated in recent weeks," Mega International Investment Services (兆豐國際投顧) assistant vice president Alex Huang (黃國偉) said.

Saying that the index had continued to gain ground beyond 9,000 points without much help from any major news and despite Wall Street's lackluster trading last night, Huang said more convincing leads should emerge to support a market where "setting a fresh seven-year high" has nearly become a daily activity in recent trading.

BenQ Corp (明基) was limit-up NT$1.05 at NT$16.55.

TOKYO

Share prices snapped a six-day winning streak as investors pocketed gains ahead of key US jobs data and next week's domestic machinery orders report.

Dealers said a mixed session overnight on Wall Street as investors returned from the Independence Day holiday also weighed on sentiment.

The NIKKEI-225 index fell 80.54 points to 18,140.94.

"Investors were cautious about the US non-farm payrolls data due out later Friday given higher bond yields there," said Hideo Mizutani, chief strategist at Sieg Securities, referring to an increase in money market rates.

HONG KONG

Share prices closed 1.25 percent higher with the main index sweeping past the 22,500 level to hit a new record.

Dealers said blue chips such as Hutchison Whampoa posted strong gains following target price upgrades by brokerages and the index was also supported by rotational interest in property stocks, which lagged the recent rally.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 278.75 points at 22,531.74.

SEOUL

Share prices hit another record close as investors targeted large-cap technology stocks amid hopes for improved earnings in the sector.

Dealers said that investors shrugged off the tepid overnight performance on Wall Street and concerns that the market's run-up over the past few days may have be overdone.

The KOSPI index ended up 13.22 points at 1,861.01.

SHANGHAI

Share prices closed 4.58 percent higher as bargain hunters helped the key Shanghai index recover most of the previous day's sharp losses.

Dealers said it was another volatile day of trading as markets climbed, fell and then rose again amid persistent liquidity fears sparked by a special treasury bond issue and plans to allow greater overseas investment.

The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 165.48 points to 3,781.35.

SYDNEY

Share prices closed 0.18 percent lower as the market gave back some of the gains made the previous day.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 11.2 points at 6,351.1.

SINGAPORE

Share prices closed 0.29 percent higher led by gains in banks and offshore marine issues amid a buoyant economy.

However, gains were limited by profit-taking in select blue chip stocks and Wall Street's lackluster performance on Thursday, dealers said.

The Straits Times Index rose 10.28 points to 3,561.96.

KUALA LUMPUR

Share prices closed 0.33 percent higher on a technical rebound driven by gains in construction and property stocks. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 4.54 points to 1,373.84.

BANGKOK

Share prices closed 1.03 percent higher, reaching a fresh 10-year high after a military-appointed council approved a final draft of a post-coup Thai constitution.

The composite index gained 8.45 points to 832.38 on trading of 5.4 billion shares.

JAKARTA

Share prices closed 0.28 percent higher on follow-through buying in big caps led by the country's biggest car dealer Astra International.

Bank Indonesia on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate, called the BI rate, by 25 basis points to 8.25 percent.

With the latest cut, the central bank has trimmed the key rate by a cumulative 450 basis points since May last year.

The composite index closed up 6.120 points at 2,227.051.

MANILA

Share prices closed 1.14 percent lower as investors took profits from Thursday's record-breaking run, with domestic political concerns weighing on sentiment.

The composite index lost 43.48 points to 3,758.84.

WELLINGTON

Share prices closed 0.31 percent lower as a lack of news continued to leave the market treading water.

The NZX-50 gross index fell 13.18 points to 4,223.53.

MUMBAI

Share prices closed at a new record high, after crossing the key 15,000-point mark in intraday trading as interest rate worries eased.

Dealers said buying sentiment improved on sustained interest in capital goods, engineering and software stocks against a backdrop of fast-paced economic growth in the South Asian economy.

The 30-share SENSEX index closed up 102.23 points at 14,964.12.

India's second-biggest software exporter, Infosys, will report earnings next week.
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