Asian shares close mostly lower on profit taking; China shares sharply higher

Asian shares close mostly lower on profit taking; China shares sharply higher

	Published : Tue, 08 May 2007 08:45 By : Agencies Print this Story

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Asian shares closed mixed, with some markets succumbing to profit taking after recent gains but China shares jumping when markets reopened after a one-week holiday, dealers said.

Tokyo share prices closed slightly weaker after investors locked-in gains accumulated in yesterday's sharp rise, although aluminum stocks advanced following the bid overnight by Alcoa Inc of the US for Canadian aluminum rival Alcan Inc, dealers said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 12.99 points or 0.07 pct lower at 17,656.84, after trading between 17,587.92 and 17,711.67.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues eased 0.4 point or 0.02 pct to 1,732.63, after moving between 1,728.64 and 1,741.35.

Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC, said: 'The market paused for breath after its gains yesterday.'

He said the performance of US stock markets overnight, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new record high, had failed to support Tokyo shares.

Banking stocks were in demand after Moody's Investors Service announced that it had raised its ratings for major Japanese banks, dealers said.

Australian shares closed lower on profit-taking after successive record gains over the past week, dealers said.

Banks and mining stocks led the broader market lower, while the national flag carrier Qantas dropped after the resumption in trade following a failed takeover bid.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended down 31.3 points or 0.49 pct at 6,304.4, falling from yesterday's record finish of 6,335.7.

Hong Kong shares were lower in afternoon trade on profit-taking in property stocks after the sector's gains in the run-up to today's government land auction, dealers said.

They said investors were also cautious as the benchmark index failed to hold the 21,000-point level after crossing the milestone yesterday.

At 3.20 pm the Hang Seng Index was down 180.07 points or 0.86 pct at 20,716.57.

In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed sharply higher after a seven-day break, with turnover at record levels as property and financial stocks gained ground, dealers said.

They said the local bourses were reacting to record-breaking runs on Wall Street and other regional markets last week when China's markets were closed.

The Shanghai A-share Index was up 112.38 points or 2.78 pct at 4,147.46 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 43.73 points or 3.93 pct at 1,157.87.

Seoul shares closed slightly lower after recent strong gains, with investors awaiting rate decision meetings in South Korea in the US as well as the expiry of options contracts locally, dealers said.

The market touched a new intraday record in early trade, sparked by another record close by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but gave back all early gains toward the close as program selling picked up, they noted.

Brokerages, insurers and lenders posted the steepest losses.

The KOSPI index closed down 1.81 points or 0.11 pct at 1,582.65, after rising to a fresh intraday record of 1,589.07. The low for the day was 1,577.18.