Asian stocks close mostly up

Asian shares made sharp gains Thursday after a steep fall in oil prices and a Wall Street rally sparked bargain hunting, but doubts remained about long-term prospects due to US economic woe.
Asian shares made sharp gains Thursday after a steep fall in oil prices and a Wall Street rally sparked bargain hunting, but doubts remained about long-term prospects due to US economic woe.
The Taiwanese bourse led the gainers among major markets, rising 3.9 percent, and India jumped more than four percent in the wake of the oil price tumble.
Crude slumped by more than 10 dollars earlier this week and fell further Thursday to around 134 dollars per barrel. But its price remains historically high, fanning fears of high inflation and slower economic growth globally.
Japan, Asia's biggest market, was one percent up, Hong Kong rallied over two percent and Australia, South Korea and Singapore also ended higher. US shares had rallied 2.5 percent on Wednesday.
But China finished down nearly one percent Thursday despite reporting double-digit economic growth.The world's fourth biggest economy expanded by 10.4 percent in the first half and 10.1 percent in the second quarter, official figures showed, down from the sizzling pace of 11.9 percent recorded for all of 2007.
Investors were looking ahead to key results due in the US from Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and Citigroup, whose earnings announcements could reveal more big losses due to the "subprime" loan crisis in the US.
Elsewhere in Asia on Thursday, most of the region's smaller markets were up, but Indonesia fell more than two percent.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed 1.00 percent higher, dealers said.The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index gained 127.15 points to close at 12,887.95. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended up 14.37 points or 1.15 percent at 1,263.65.
MUMBAI: Indian markets rose 4.26 percent, dealers said.The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index rose 536.05 points to 13,111.85.
"The crude oil price fall gave relief. Local political factors and rising inflation are real concerns which could peg the markets back," said Hiten Mehta, a fund manager with Fortune Financial Services.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed 2.41 percent higher, dealers said.The Hang Seng Index closed up 511.22 points at 21,734.72. Turnover was 63.46 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.14 billion US).
SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices closed 0.78 percent lower, dealers said.The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, closed down 21.09 points at 2,684.78 on turnover of 51.5 billion yuan (7.5 billion dollars).
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.02 percent higher, dealers said.The blue-chip Straits Times Index finished 28.78 points higher at 2,864.10 on volume of 1.03 billion shares worth 1.40 billion Singapore dollars (1.04 billion US).
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices ended 0.2 percent higher, dealers said.The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 1.75 points to 1,121.17.