Business  » Market watch

Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday as investors focused on domestic issues despite US and European markets giving Greece's crucial bailout only a lukewarm welcome.

Tokyo was up almost one per cent, closing at its highest level in more than six months as exporters were boosted by a sliding yen, with the Japanese unit breaking through the psychological 80 yen level against the dollar.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.96 per cent or 90.98 points to 9,554.00, its strongest finish since August 4, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.12 per cent, or 9.11 points, at 825.40.

Chinese shares rose almost as much, with the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, ending up 0.93 per cent, or 22.16 points, at 2,403.59.

Property firms led the gains on hopes commercial hub Shanghai may roll back some government limits on the real estate market, dealers said.

Hong Kong rose 0.33 per cent, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index gaining 70.56 points to 21,549.28 on turnover of HK$70.41 billion ($9.08 billion).

Internet shopping portal Alibaba.com rocketed 42 per cent on an offer by its Chinese parent company, itself part-owned by US giant Yahoo!, to take it private for the same price it floated at in 2007.

The rises came despite New York and European bourses giving only a limited response on Tuesday to a new 237-billion-euro ($310 billion) bailout package eurozone finance ministers agreed for Greece.

The measures are designed to keep the country in the single currency in return for tough budget cuts and close oversight of its government, and analysts expressed concern about the durability of the package.

But Asian markets shrugged off the doubts.

"It's getting to the point where people are feeling that developments in Europe are becoming largely irrelevant to Asia," Andrew Sullivan, principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray, told Dow Jones Newswires.

European stock markets fell in early cautious trade on Wednesday amid lingering eurozone debt concerns.

In morning deals, London's FTSE 100 eased 0.11 per cent to 5,921.72 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 slipped 0.40 per cent to 6,880.33 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dipped 0.02 per cent to 3,464.47.

In Asian trade the euro was mixed, buying $1.3220 and 105.94 yen from $1.3238 and 105.50 yen in New York late Tuesday.

The dollar rose to 80.15 yen from 79.69 yen, going above the 80 yen level for the first time in six months.

New York's main oil contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in April, slipped 57 cents to $105.68 per barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April was up 39 cents at $121.05.

Gold was at $1,753.60 an ounce at 1050 GMT, from $1,737.10 on Tuesday.

In other markets:

-- Seoul was 0.2 per cent or 4.41 points higher at 2,028.65.

-- Singapore fell 29.48 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 2,995.59.

Oil rig maker Keppel Corp shed 0.82 per cent to Sg$10.89 and beverage distributor Fraser and Neave lost 0.15 per cent to Sg$6.48.

-- Mumbai fell 1.54 per cent, or 283.36 points, to 18,145.25.

-- Kuala Lumpur was down 3.26 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 1,560.52.

Telecommunications firm Axiata Group lost 0.60 per cent to 5.01 ringgit, while financial firm CIMB Group Holdings fell 0.69 per cent to 7.24.

-- Sydney closed flat, up 0.04 per cent or 1.9 points to 4,293.1.

-- Wellington fell 9.09 points or 0.27 per cent to 3,328.23.

Index heavyweight Fletcher Building closed down 1.96 per cent at NZ$6.51 after posting a 13 per cent drop in half-year net profit. Air New Zealand was down 1.7 per cent to NZ$0.88.

-- Taipei rose 80.18 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 8,001.68.

Hon Hai rose 0.83 per cent to Tw$97.6 while TSMC was 0.38 per cent lower at Tw$79.7.

-- Manila rose 0.68 per cent, or 33.35 points, at 4,934.29.

Megaworld Corp. gained 4.04 per cent to 1.80 pesos but top-traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co fell by 0.11 per cent to 84.10 pesos.

-- Jakarta fell 0.2 per cent or 7.93 points to 3,995.02.

Consumer goods producer Unilever Indonesia declined 1.3 per cent to 19,150 rupiah, while car maker Astra International fell 2 per cent to 72,350 rupiah.

-- Bangkok was down 0.23 per cent or 2.57 points to 1,137.82.

Banpu lost 2.07 per cent to 662.00 baht, while PTT added 0.28 per cent to 358.00 baht.