Asian stocks closed mixed on Friday with a lack of direction from Wall Street and another fall in Tokyo dampening sentiment after an appreciating yen eroded the value of Japanese exporters.
Dealers said gains were capped amid traditional low volumes and window-dressing ahead of year-end position squaring. As a result Sydney and Shanghai each registered a modest improvement.
The TAIEX gained on the prospect of improving ties with China while Wellington also rose after its currency bucked the trend and eased against the greenback.
Elsewhere, Manila was again punished by investors who fear there could be more than just talk in rumors of another plot to oust the government.
Seoul slumped 1.24 percent on its rising currency and the alleged fraud by cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk which rattled biotech shares. Singapore was flat for a third straight trading day. Hong Kong and Bangkok were also flat.
Taipei share prices closed 1.47 percent higher due to renewed investor hopes for an easing of government policy toward China, with year-end window-dressing providing additional support.
Dealers said expectations that Taipei would relax its policy toward Beijing were boosted by a report which said the Financial Supervisory Commission has proposed that local companies should be given more room to maneuver in their China investments as long as they meet certain minimum requirements.
Also supporting the market was futures-related interest, coupled with fresh industry leads, including reports of positive prospects for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips and thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal-display (TFT-LCD) panels, dealers said.
"Expectations for a relaxation on China-bound investment limits boosted sentiment," First Global Investment Trust Co Ltd (
"Fund managers could have also been in some year-end window-dressing activity in the run-up to the close of the year," he added.
The TAIEX closed up 92.22 points at 6,350.69. Turnover was NT$129.98 billion (US$3.92 billion).
Tokyo share prices closed 0.53 percent lower, shedding earlier gains, as a firmer yen led to a further dumping of exporter shares.
Dealers said the market closely watched the currency market and was heartened when the dollar pulled up from early lows against the yen. Exporters favor a strong dollar as their earnings are in the US currency.
In its third straight fall, the NIKKEI-225 index lost 81.37 points to 15,173.07.
Seoul
Seoul share prices closed 1.24 percent lower on foreign investors sell-offs, with the snowballing scandal over Hwang's research-dampening sentiment.
Dealers said biotechnology and pharmaceutical shares saw heavy losses after allegations that Hwang may have faked key parts of his breakthrough in stem cell research.
The KOSPI index closed down 16.64 points at 1,321.04.
Hong Kong share prices closed little changed, down 0.19 percent on caution ahead of the weekend and following Wall Street's lackluster performance overnight.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 29.21 points at 15,029.81.
Shanghai share prices closed 0.35 percent higher on continued money inflows after consolidation in the previous session with steelmakers, property developers and infrastructure firms driven up by rotational play.
The Shanghai A-share Index added 4.19 points to 1,185.70, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 2.82 points or 1.0 percent at 284.13.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B-shares, closed up 3.95 points or 0.35 percent at 1,127.51.
"The market continued to gain ground on the back of fund inflows, with institutional investors, especially fund management firms, expected to build more positions ahead of the year end," said Wang Mingzhi, an analyst at GF Securities.
"But there are also worries over possible new macro-economic control measures after still high investment growth and some overcapacity problems," the analyst said.
Sydney
Sydney share prices closed 0.35 percent higher, led by the banks after struggling to find direction during most of the day.
Dealers said St George led the banks upwards after announcing a share buy back program and providing an upbeat outlook at its annual general meeting. St George added 0.75 dollars or 2.64 percent to 29.15.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 16.1 points at 4,644.0.
Singapore share prices closed down 0.01 percent on thin volumes in the absence of solid trading leads and a faltering Wall Street, with slight profit-taking in ST Engineering, dealers said.
They said the outlook for the market was still positive, and that a year-end rally was possible amid the position squaring which is currently going on.
The Straits Times Index closed down 0.2 points at 2,325.5.
In Kuala Lumpur share prices closed 0.18 percent lower in a market that was bereft of fresh leads, which included an uninspiring performance by Wall Street overnight.
The Composite Index shed 1.61 points to 893.37.
Bangkok share prices closed flat due to the absence of foreign investors amid light trading as investors square-off positions in the lead up to the new year. The Composite Index edged up 0.68 points to 691.17.
In Jakarta share prices closed 1.08 percent lower for a third straight day on continued profit-taking and as the rupiah's retreat against the dollar hurt sentiment in blue-chips. The composite index closed down 12.538 points at 1,143.426.
Manila share prices closed 1.16 percent lower as lingering political jitters triggered selling in blue chips for the second straight session. The composite index ended down 24.11 points to 2,047.56.
Wellington share prices jumped 1.44 percent higher following strong gains by market leader Telecom and exporters seen benefitting from a weaker local currency.
"Bargain hunters have really come into this market today, in reaction to the New Zealand dollar falling overnight. I think they are looking at stocks that are going to benefit from a falling dollar," Hamilton Hindin Greene partner Grant Williamson said.
The NZSX-50 gross index rose 47.23 points to 3,281.90.
Mumbai
Mumbai share prices surged 1.24 percent to close at a new record high on across-the-board foreign and domestic fund buying amid sustained expectations of strong economic growth.
"Hectic buying was evident again in most sectors," said Mehul Desai, a dealer at Nishit Stock Trade and Investments.
"Foreigners and domestic investors turned buyers given the strong undertone triggered by a robust economic growth expectations for the second half to March," Desai said.
The 30-share SENSEX index rose 114.06 points to 9,284.86.
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