Asian stocks mixed as investors stay away

Asian stocks mixed as investors stay away

HONG KONG (AFP): Asian stock markets Wednesday ended mixed, with investors largely sidelined ahead of the Christmas holidays and the impeachment debate to decide the political fate of U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Tokyo closed 0.6 percent up but off its highs, with investors cautious on the direction of Wall Street ahead of Thursday's vote in the House of Representatives on whether Clinton should face a full impeachment trial.

Hong Kong dropped 0.1 percent in listless trade, shrugging off a 1.47-percent rise by New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday that ended a five-session losing streak for the headline U.S. index.

The key Hang Seng index lost 13.45 points to close at 9,839.39.

Singapore rose 0.7 percent in a similarly featureless session, while Kuala Lumpur and Sydney posted modest rises of 0.1 and 0.3 percent respectively.

Bangkok lost 1.3 percent ahead of the results of a 10-billion- dollar auction of loans stripped from closed Thai finance firms, while Seoul tumbled 5.8 percent from recent highs.

In Tokyo, share prices closed 0.6 percent higher but with gains eroded in late trading, brokers said.

In early trading, share prices benefited from the previous day's rally on Wall Street, brokers said.

The 225-issue Nikkei average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended 85.11 points higher at 14,096.30, after falling to the day's low of 14,016.81 points near the close.

In Singapore, share prices ended 0.7 percent lower with players sidelined despite a rebound on Wall Street.

The Stock Exchange of Singapore's benchmark Straits Times index fell 9.19 points to end at 1,359.10.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian share prices closed 0.1 percent down but off their lows, with late bargain hunting of second liners offsetting earlier losses on profit taking.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index ended 0.8 points lower at 542.99.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's benchmark All Ordinaries index rose 9.4 points to 2,697.3, off a high of 2,702.0.

In Bangkok, the Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index dropped 4.65 points to close at 344.53 points.

In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index surged 72.51 points to close at 1,869.24.

In Seoul, the Korea Stock Exchange composite index closed the day down 33.89 points at 545.97.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted index dropped 167.3 points to 6,769.52.

In Shanghai, B-share index stayed at 28.41 points, while the A-share index of locally traded stocks slipped 12.65 points, or 1.0 percent, to 1,258.80 points.

In Auckland, the NZSE-40 index was up 12.89 points to 1,953.22.