Asian shares close mostly higher, boosted by Wall St record finish

Asian shares close mostly higher, boosted by Wall St record finish

	Published : Thu, 31 May 2007 08:57 By : Agencies Print this Story

HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Shares across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly higher after Wall Street rose to a record high overnight, countering fears of a slump after China stocks plunged yesterday, dealers said.

Tokyo shares ended sharply higher after Wall Street's gains eased concern that the falls on Chinese markets yesterday would spark a global rout like that in February, dealers said.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 287.49 points or 1.63 pct higher at the day's peak of 17,875.75, its highest closing level since Feb 27, when it settled at 18,119.92.

The TOPIX index of all first-section issues advanced 21.93 points or 1.26 pct to 1,755.68, off a high of 1,757.09.

Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Management, said: 'The market welcomed the US stock markets' gains overnight, easing worries that sharp losses in Chinese markets yesterday might lead a global sell-off.'

Akino said markets could avoid another global meltdown in stocks because they had learned from what had happened in February.

'As Chinese stock markets are booming, it is no surprise if China's share prices show a certain level of volatility. And the volatility does not necessarily reflect China's real economy,' he said.

Australian shares closed higher after investors took encouragement from the strong gains in US markets overnight and snapped up stocks hit by yesterday's sell-off, dealers said.

Dealers said gains by index leader BHP Billiton and major banks had led the advances as confidence returned to the market.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended 70.1 points or 1.12 pct higher at 6,313.5, off a high of 6,342.5 and a low of 6,260.9.

Dealers said the advances were broad.

Hong Kong shares were sharply higher in afternoon trade, reversing yesterday's strong fall, as robust gains on Wall Street overnight and Japan today helped investors put aside worries over the slump in China markets and buy blue chips and select H-shares, dealers said.

At 3.35 pm the Hang Seng Index was up 370.33 points or 1.82 pct at 20,664.09.

In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed mixed, with Shanghai shares rebounding in the afternoon from sharp losses yesterday and from today's morning session, dealers said.

The Shanghai A-share Index was up 59.97 points or 1.41 pct at 4,309.97 and the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 13.37 points or 1.06 pct at 1,242.99. The indices yesterday fell 6.48 pct and 7.15 pct respectively.

Seoul shares ended sharply higher, with the main index at a new high above 1,700 points, after investors were encouraged by Wall Street and the outlook for the local economy, dealers said.

The news that the current account deficit widened last month to a size not seen in 10 years was offset by data showing strong output by the industrial and service sectors last month, dealers said.

Attention focused on shipbuilders and construction companies during a broad-based rally on institutional window-dressing buying, with those stocks driven up by upbeat earnings outlooks, they said.

The KOSPI index closed 38.19 points or 2.3 pct higher at a record 1,700.91, off a low of 1,677.78 and a high of 1,701.91.