Asian stock markets end mixed

Asian stock markets end mixed

TOKYO (Agencies): Asian stock markets were mixed yesterday as
a rally on Wall Street was offset by heightening tension between
China and Taiwan.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng regained some of the ground it lost on
Monday and Japanese share prices rebounded with the key market
barometer closing 0.8 percent higher as the recovery on Wall
Street revived buying sentiment.

The key Hang Seng index rose 205.00 points to end at
10,602.45.

Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 leading issues rose 153.98
points to finish at 19,950.27 while the Topix index of all issues
on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange was 10.27 points
higher at 1,535.75.

Singapore blue-chip stock prices regained some of the losses
piled up a day earlier to close 1.6 percent higher.

The blue chip barometer, Straits Times Industrials index, rose
37.58 points to end at 2,353.92 after plummeting 84.42 points on
Monday due to a sharp Wall Street drop on Friday and amid fears
of a Taiwan-China war.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-stock weighted composite
index rose 16.95 points to 1,099.94.

Australian share prices rose 1.9 percent, responding well to
revised budget projections.

The Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the all
ordinaries index, gained 41.1 points to 2,228.5.

Share prices closed 0.5 percent lower on the Korea Stock
Exchange, as the market mood remained sour in the absence of
encouraging factors, brokers said.

The composite price index eased 3.84 points to finish at
844.42.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 6.79 points to
2,803.86.

Taiwan share prices closed 0.4 percent lower as late selling
pressure eroded early gains amid concerns over China's military
exercises in the Taiwan Strait.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange's weighted price index declined
19.03 points to 4, 692.40.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index rose 2.89 points to
1,266.55 points.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index ended 8.25 points,
or 0.25 percent, higher at a provisional 3,299.90.

The FTSE index of 100 leading British shares was up 4.5 points
at 3,679.0

in Paris, the CAC-40 share index was up 8.41 points at
1,957.30.

The IBIS DAX index in Frankfurt was up 21.18 points at
2,440.90.