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Asian market highlight

TOKYO: Profit-taking after two days of big gains caused stock indices to end little changed. But foreign and domestic investors continued to chase selected issues and the market's underlying tone remains bullish, brokers said.

The Nikkei average eased 9.03 points, or 0.05 percent, to 18,149.70. In the previous two days, the Nikkei had climbed 1,242.16 points or 7.3 percent.

"The market is taking a breather and undergoing a process of consolidation after yesterday's gains," said Martin Pankau, salesman at Deushche Bank Capital Markets (Asia) Ltd.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks finished sharply lower as a round of late derivatives-linked selling added excitement to what had been an uneventful day, brokers said.

The Hang Seng Index dived 88.39 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at the day's low of 8,896.66. Turnover was HK$2.91 billion ($375 million).

"The market was pretty steady in the morning but it fell steeply in late trade when foreign houses sold futures in heavy volume," said Teresa Wong at DBS Securities.

August and September index futures both finished at 8,860, losing 135 and 140 points respectively.

BANGKOK: Thai stocks rallied to end the day 2.36 percent higher as local investors bought relatively cheap finance and banking issues, brokers said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand index shot up 30.88 points to 1,340.52 on turnover of seven billion baht ($280 million), the highest volume in nearly three weeks.

"There was local interest in finance and banking stocks which were looking cheap," an Ekachart broker said.

"Foreigners are still on the sidelines. Currency fluctuations and continuing worries about the government's economic policies are still hanging over the market."

BOMBAY: Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) finished higher ahead of a long weekend, traders said.

The BSE 30-share index rose 18.51 points to a provisional 3,444.33. The Bombay bourse will be closed on Friday for a Hindu festival.

The composite National index gained 9.94 points to a provisional 1,580.20.

Traders said truck maker Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co (TELCO) was in the limelight.

"TELCO's sales volumes are up sharply in the first quarter and its performance in this period is likely to be good," a trader at a foreign broking firm said.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka stocks edged lower on high turnover, with the Colombo Stock Exchange correcting the index close from a slight gain to a moderate loss.

The all share index fell 2.88 points to 748.92. Turnover, supported by 299,000 Aitken Spence shares and 15,000 JKH shares, was 81.94 million rupees ($1.6 million).

The exchange originally said the index rose 1.45 points to 753.25 and blamed the error on a miscalculation.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian share market ended lower for the fifth straight day as rumours of poor earnings by major companies depressed sentiment further, traders said.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's Composite Index fell 8.36 points, or 0.81 percent, to 1,019.94.

Resorts World fell on speculation of poor earnings, traders said. Other large companies are also expected to report poor results in coming days.

MANILA: A persistent selldown in market heavyweights battered the Philippine share index for the third consecutive session, brokers said.

The composite index slipped 16.62 points, or 0.58 percent, to 2,828.6. Volume was heavy at 1.776 billion pesos ($69 million).

"PLDT's persistent slide in New York continued to cast a pall on the overall market as it induced selling pressure on its local counterpart and other blue chips," P.96) to S$15.50 ($10.93) after reports that the company's new products have been well received in the United States.

SYDNEY: The Australian share market was sharply lower after the futures market fell away in the afternoon session and derivatives plays in market leader BHP had an impact on the physical market.

The All Ordinaries index fell 14.1 points, or 0.66 percent, to 2,111.50. The September share price index contract was down 20 points to 2,129, a 17.5-point premium to the physical market.

The market, which spent most of the day in range-bound trade, was knocked in the afternoon when SPI futures dropped sharply.

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed off their highs in a third straight rebound after the government's repeated market-boosting measures. But brokers said the index will likely consolidate for a while before moving up again.

The index rose 33.39 points, or 0.70 percent, to 4,825.78, off a high of 4,906.48. Turnover was an active T$54.58 billion ($2 billion).

"After three consecutive days of rebounds, of course there would be some short-term profit-taking," said Eric Ni of Yuan Ta Securities.

WELLINGTON: The New Zealand share market finished weaker as Telecom and the leading forestry stocks lost ground.

The benchmark NZSE-40 index slumped to 2,103.99, down 16.26 points or 0.77 percent.

Luke Koekoek at Jordan Sandman Were said the bearish sentiment in Telecom had been fuelled by a government report on the company's interconnection dispute with rival Clear Communications Ltd.-Reuter