Most Asian shares end in positive territory

Most Asian shares end in positive territory

HONG KONG (AFP): Hong Kong shares rose above the key 10,000- point level on Monday as stock markets in Asia ended mixed.

With Bangkok and Seoul shut for holidays, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Jakarta ended in positive territory. Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Taipei fell.

In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index gained 161.97 points to 10,020.46 on a turnover of HK$5.173 billion (US$668 million).

In Jakarta, Indonesian share prices closed slightly up in flat trading amid concerns a delay in the government's bank restructuring program would affect international credibility, dealers said.

"The general market was very quiet because investors are confused about the government's banking recapitalization program," a dealer said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite price index was 0.236 points higher at 396.325.

In Tokyo, institutional investors continued unwinding their holdings as they prepared to close their annual accounts at the end of March, brokers said.

"The yen's appreciation from the morning weighed heavily on sentiment in the absence of major factors," Nikko Securities senior analyst Yasuo Ueki said.

The Nikkei stock average of 225 leading issues fell 145.79 points to end at 14,221.75.

The Topix index of all issues on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange was down 12.22 points at 1,107,81.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index rose 10.94 points to 1,422.85, while the All-Singapore index rose 2.93 points to 386.45. SingTel accounted for 8.37 points of the index's movement.

In Sydney, the Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the All Ordinaries index, closed up 31.2 points, or 1.08 percent, at 2,911.1.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index finished at 531.54 points, down 10.69 from Friday's close.

In Manila, the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.78 points to close at 1,964.27 points.

In Taipei, the benchmark Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index moved down 6.27 points to 6,312.25.

In Shanghai, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's B-share index shed 0.50 points to finish at 23.94 points, while the A-share index of locally traded stocks rose 8.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,169.25 points.

In Auckland, the NZSE-40 capital index finished down 32.84 points at 2,166.04.