Asian and European stock exchanges close mixed

Asian and European stock exchanges close mixed

HONG KONG (Agencies): Stock markets closed mixed around Asia yesterday with bigger markets such as Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore falling while others such as Manila, Taipei and Sydney rose.

Hong Kong's stocks fell amid a fresh Sino-British spat, with the Hang Seng Index shedding 90.61 or nearly one percent to close at 9,846.40.

In Tokyo, share prices fell back from a two-day winning run on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed 126.73 points or 0.6 percent lower at 19,919.38. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues on the first section also sagged 8.55 points to 1,583.96.

In Singapore, share prices here on profit-taking as investors liquidated positions on fears of a declining U.S. dollar, dealers said.

The barometer Straits Times Industrials index shed 1.35 points to close provisionally at 2,298.31.

In Bangkok, foreign institutional investors returned to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) yesterday, catapulting the index 28.41 points, or 1.88 percent, to a close of 1,536.14 points, brokers said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed higher yesterday on active trading and renewed buying interest, brokers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange 86-share weighted composite index rose 4.73 points to 1,173.84 from 1,169.11. Rises led falls 276 to 152 with 78 unchanged.

In Sydney, lower-than-expected inflation data from the United States overnight helped relieve anxieties on the Australian bourse yesterday, pushing share prices to a firmer close amid subdued trade.

The key All Ordinaries index closed 6.9 points (0.3 percent) higher at 2,050.5 after it lingered in a tight nine-point range.

The London stock market fell by around 35 points on the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100 index after stronger-than- expected British inflation and unemployment data but the market later rallied when traders saw no selling from investors.

In Paris, the CAC-40 share index dropped 10.25 to 1,959.11. The 30-share DAX index in Frankfurt was up 2.88 at 2,138.97.

In New York, U.S. stock prices rose strongly on Tuesday after a positive report on consumer price inflation soothed Wall Street's inflation jitters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 19.52 points higher at 3,879.86. Earlier in the session, the index was up more than 30 points.