so scary now.....

Asian Markets End Mixed

(RTTNews) - Mixed trading was witnessed among the major markets in Asia/Pacific region open for trading on Friday, the last trading day for the week. The market in Japan was closed for a public holiday. Disturbing political developments in Egypt and the resultant civil unrest in the streets of Cairo impacted the broad market sentiment across the markets in the region. While the markets in China, Hong Kong, India and Indonesia managed to end in the green with moderate gains, the markets in Australia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan ended in the red with moderate losses amid profit taking.

In Australia, the benchmark S& P/ASX200 Index declined 33.50 points, or 0.68 percent and closed at 4,880.90 points, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,970.60 points, representing a loss of 31.10 points, or 0.62 percent.

On the economic front, speaking at a parliamentary committee in Canberra, Glenn Stevens, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, said that the price increases caused by cyclones may temporarily raise consumer price inflation, but price effects pose no serious threat to the achievement of the medium-term inflation goal. He said the effects on activity will not derail the expansion. " Accordingly, the view of the Board at the recent meeting was that while the impact of the floods on the short-term path of output and prices would be quite substantial, monetary policy should not respond to those effects," Stevens said.

Light sweet crude oil futures for March delivery was trading at $87.20 a barrel in electronic trading, up $0.47 per barrel from previous close at $86.73 a barrel in New York on Thursday.

Banking stocks ended in the red amid profit taking, ANZ Bank slipped 0.76 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 0.86 percent, National Australia Bank declined 0.96 percent and Westpac Banking Corp. was down 0.74 percent. Investment banking company Macquarie Group ended in the red with a minor loss of 0.08 percent.

Resource related stocks also ended in negative territory. BHP Billiton shed 0.81 percent, Rio Tinto fell 1.58 percent, Iluka Resources declined 1.82 percent, Macarthur Coal plunged 2.83 percent, Mincor Resources slipped 0.23 percent and Murchison Metals was down 1.32 percent.

Among the gainers, telecom giant Telstra advanced 1.04 percent amid huge volumes even as the company reported weaker than expected results for the first half.

In Japan, the markets were closed for a public holiday.

In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended in the green with modest gains of 9.60 points, or 0.34 percent at 2,827.77.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark HangSeng Index ended in positive territory with a moderate gain of 120.30 points, or 0.53 percent, at 22,828.92.

In Indonesia, the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index ended at 3,391..77, up 18.12 points, or 0.54 percent from previous close.

In Singapore, the Strait Times Index ended in the negative territory with a loss of 26.12 points, or 0.84% at 3,077.27.

In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI Index ended in negative territory with a loss of 31.31 points, or 1.56 percent, at 1,977.19.

In Taiwan, the Taiwan Weighted Index ended at 8,609.86, sharply down 226.70 points, or 2.57 percent, from previous close.

In India, the benchmark BSE Sensex ended in the green with a modest gain of 265.52 points, at 17,728.61, while the broader Nifty Index ended at 5,310.00, registering a smart gain of 84.20 points from previous close.