Asian stocks closed mostly higher Thursday

Lackluster earnings news and Boeing’s problems in its Dreamliner program prompted U.S. investors to lock in gains following a record-setting session and the Dow Jones fell 0.63 percent.

But the mood in Asia Pacific remained more positive with central banks in Japan and South Korea keeping interest rates on hold helping Tokyo to a 1.64 percent surge and Seoul advanced 0.9 percent further into record territory.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Jakarta and Sydney also struck best ever finishes with Australian resource stocks supporting its benchmark. Bangkok was up 1.6 percent, its highest level since December 1996.

Wellington was up 0.39 percent and Taipei rose 0.60 percent on support for industrials. Kuala Lumpur rose 0.5 percent but profit taking from near record highs resulted in Manila bucking the trend, shedding 0.3 percent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 1.64 percent at a two-month high after the central bank refrained from hiking interest rates and Sony Corp’s newly listed financial arm made a solid debut. The Nikkei-225 index gained 281.09 points to 17,458.98. Turnover climbed to 2.08 billion shares from 1.69 billion on Wednesday.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed up 1.9 percent at another record high as strong gains in China financials, coal and oil saw the key index break the 29,000 point level. The Hang Seng index closed up 563.69 points at 29,133.02.

SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices closed mixed, as the Shenzhen bourse fell but the Shanghai index ended at a record for the fourth straight day buoyed by banking and energy heavyweights. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 141.77 points or 2.46 percent at a record 5,913.23 with turnover up to 177.99 billion yuan (US$23.42 billion) from 165.45 billion yuan in the previous session. Analysts said institutional investors were also building up positions amid expectations that regulators will soon launch stock index futures, a hedging tool.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email