HONG KONG, Nov 15, 2007 (AFP) - Asian stocks closed mostly down Thursday with investors taking profits as concerns about US economic prospects loomed once again.

Hong Kong stocks slipped 1.42 percent, Singapore fell 1.34 percent and Seoul dipped 1.3 percent as investors cashed in gains made when Asian markets surged Wednesday.

Lacklustre performance on Wall Street amid disappointing US retail sales data darkened the mood by highlighting persistent concerns that the US economy is heading for a sharp slowdown.

The US has been hit by a credit crunch and a housing market slowdown triggered by a default crisis in its subprime mortgage sector, comprising loans made to riskier borrowers.

Two bourses bucked the weakness elsewhere in Asia, with Indonesia rising 0.5 percent and Malaysia up 0.4 percent.

Indonesia reported economic growth of 6.5 percent for the third quarter, ahead of forecasts, boosting investor sentiment.

Meanwhile the World Bank said Thursday that China and other East Asian economies were likely to remain robust in 2008 despite the US subprime crisis and high global oil prices.

It forecast Chinese growth of 10.8 percent next year and expansion in Emerging East Asia -- roughly the entire region excluding Japan -- of 8.2 percent.

TOKYO: Japanese share prices ended mixed with the Nikkei index losing ground as investors locked in some of Wednesday's strong gains after Wall Street retreated overnight, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index dropped 103.26 points or 0.67 percent to 15,396.30. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares edged up 1.15 points or 0.08 percent to 1,498.86.

Gainers outnumbered decliners 939 to 691, with 86 issues unchanged.

Volume dipped to 1.93 billion shares from 2.07 billion on Wednesday.

Shares opened higher but saw a late downturn amid caution about the prospects for the global economy and share prices, dealers said.

Some banking stocks succumbed to profit-taking after early gains, dragging the key index into negative territory.

"The Nikkei managed to recover above 15,500 points but because market sentiment has not changed much, gains could not be sustained," said Yoshikiyo Shimamine, chief economist at Daiichi-Life Research Institute.

Several Japanese banks posted profit slumps after the close on Wednesday due to losses from the US subprime sector of housing loans to high-risk customers.

Mizuho Financial, Japan's second-largest bank, reported a 16.6 percent drop in first-half net profits and reduced its full-year forecast.

Mizuho Financial ended down 4,000 yen or 0.7 percent at 546,000.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial, which is expected to report its interim results next week, fell five yen or 0.5 percent to 962.

Nikko Cordial jumped 112 yen or 7.2 percent to 1,660 after Citigroup said it had amended its offer to take full control of the subsidiary because of the recent plunge in the US banking giant's share price.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed down 1.42 percent as investors locked in profits after the market's near five percent surge a day earlier, dealers said.

They said falls in Wall Street and mainland bourses also hit sentiment, with some analysts speculating that China could raise interest rates as early as Friday in a bid to cool its booming economy.

The Hang Seng index closed down 414.80 points at 28,751.21. Turnover was 119.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (15.4 billion US).

"The market lacked direction after yesterday's strong performance," said Winner Lee, associate director at BNP Paribas.

"There are uncertainties if the worst of the subprime mortgage crisis is over as more global banks, including HSBC, make more provisions for their exposure to the segment," she said.

"In the mainland, investors are cautious and worried over macroeconomic tightening measures which might come very soon," she said.

Among large-caps, China Mobile was down 1.20 at 139.60, Hutchison Whampoa fell 1.0 at 92.40 and Swire Pacific dropped 1.40 at 99.80.

Stock market operator HKEx was up 8.20 at 247.20.

HSBC was down 0.20 at 138.80 after revealing additional bad debt charges at its US unit.

SHANGHAI: Chinese share prices closed 0.88 percent lower after a near five percent surge in the previous session, dealers said.

They said investors chose to book gains in the energy and steel sectors and could be concerned that fresh measures to cool the Chinese economy were likely.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, covering A and B shares, fell 47.43 points to 5,365.27 on turnover of 80.95 billion yuan (10.9 billion US dollars).

"There are mounting worries in the market about an imminent interest rate hike," said Qian Xiangjing, an analyst at Citic Kinton Securities.

The Shanghai A-share Index fell 49.68 points or 0.87 percent to 5,632.87 on turnover of 80.51 billion yuan. The Shenzhen A-share Index was down 18.97 points or 1.37 percent at 1,364.36 on turnover of 38.41 billion yuan.

Energy and steel stocks led the decline with China Shenhua Energy losing 2.95 yuan to 67.39 and PetroChina falling 0.97 to 37.91.

The Shanghai B-share Index slipped 4.08 points or 1.18 percent to 340.68 on turnover of 443.40 million US dollars.

The Shenzhen B-share Index retreated 4.72 points or 0.65 percent to 716.70 on turnover of 318.82 million Hong Kong dollars (42.51 million US dollars).

TAIPEI: Taiwan share prices closed 0.42 percent lower after Wall Street's retreat overnight, dealers said.

The weighted index closed down 37.52 points at 8,905.41.

Turnover was 99.48 billion Taiwan dollars (3.08 billion US), down from 143.21 billion in the previous session.

Decliners led risers 1,407 to 672, with 317 stocks unchanged. A total of 14 stocks closed limit-down and 21 were limit-up.

"Turnover shrank sharply as investors remained wary about the future ... there is no way of telling if the recent low of 8,626 points will be breached just yet," said a local securities analyst who asked not to be named.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was down 0.60 Taiwan dollars at 60.90 with foreign investors unmoved by the company's share buyback.

United Microelectronics Corp. fell 0.05 to 19.35.

Uni-President closed limit-up 3.10 at 47.60 over anticipation that its China operations will be listed in Hong Kong soon.

SEOUL: South Korean share prices closed 1.3 percent lower amid weaker Asian stock market performance due to fears about the US credit crisis, dealers said.

They said many investors also kept to the sidelines before the release of key US data.

Samsung Electronics outperformed, with a gain of more than four percent, on news it led the global liquid crystal display monitor industry in the third quarter.

The KOSPI index ended down 24.84 points at 1,947.74 after trading between 1,932.03 and 1,985.38. Volume was 363 million shares worth 7.9 trillion won (8.63 billion dollars).

"Sentiment chilled further in late trade as the regional markets continued to fall, because investors decided that increased volatility on Wall Street would hold up for a while," said Kang Moon-Sung, an analyst at Korea Investment and Securities.

Samsung Electronics added 23,000 won or 4.2 percent to 570,000.

SK Telecom slid 8,000 won or 3.1 percent to 248,000 on profit-taking after gaining more than seven percent on Wednesday.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed down 1.1 percent, amid profit-taking in the financial and resources sectors, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 70 points at 6,528.6, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 0.8 percent or 55.6 points at 6,594.4.

A total of 2.03 billion shares worth about 7.4 billion Australian dollars (6.7 billion US) changed hands, with 606 stocks closing up, 661 closing down and 374 stocks unchanged.

"We are having a very soft day," said Stuart Smith, a private client advisor at Bell Potter Securities.

The market has been on a downward trajectory this month after running "too hard, too fast and too quickly," Smith said.

Potential merger partners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both fell, with BHP losing 1.05 dollars to 41.15 dollars and Rio down 2.12 dollars to 134.59 dollars.

Oil miner Woodside lost 3.80 dollars, or 7.31 percent, to 48.20 dollars after slashing its 2008 production forecast by about 20 percent.

SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 1.34 percent lower on continued worries that a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector will hurt Asian economies and markets, dealers said.

The main Straits Times Index fell 47.32 points to 3,477.59.

Volume was 1.95 billion shares worth 1.97 billion Singapore dollars (1.37 billion US) with 220 risers, 605 losers and 856 stocks staying flat.

"With the subprime issue still hanging in the air, the market is likely to remain volatile," Westcomb Securities said in a note to clients.

Bank stocks were lower. DBS Group Holdings fell 30 cents to 19.80 Singapore dollars, United Overseas Bank eased 10 cents to 19.50 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp dropped 15 cents to 8.40.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices rose 0.4 percent with the index supported by palm oil producer IOI Corp. and cellphone operator DiGi.com, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closed up 5.42 points at 1,390.00

Trading volume was 1.14 billion shares, valued at 1.73 billion ringgit (524 million dollars).

The KLCI was supported by encouraging developments in the telecommunications industry and solid earnings by plantation companies.

"The decoupling of the US market against the KLCI is increasing, meaning that highly volatile US and North Asian markets tend to have a limited influence on the local market tone," said Stephen Soo, investment analyst at TA Securities.

DiGi shares jumped 80 sen or 3.4 percent to 24.40 ringgit as they resumed trading after a two-and-a-half-day suspension to facilitate the announcement it is buying a third-generation broadband license from rival Time dotCom.

Time dotCom shares traded up 3.5 sen or 4.0 percent at 0.905 ringgit. Time dotCom said it will own 10 percent of DiGi following the planned disposal of its 3G licence and the conclusion of a placement of DiGi's shares.

IOI Corp, the world's largest palm oil producer, closed higher after it reported a 77 percent rise in first-quarter net profit due mainly to soaring crude palm oil prices.

The stock gained 20 sen or 2.8 percent to 7.45 ringgit.

East Malaysia-based Sarawak Oil Palms surged 80 sen or 15.4 percent to 6.00 ringgit.

BANGKOK: Thai share prices closed 0.70 percent lower as investors locked in profits in banking and financial stocks, dealers said.

They said the market was also under pressure due to lingering worries over the US subprime mortgage crisis.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 5.99 points to 855.52 and the blue-chip SET 50 index lost 5.51 points to 628.04.

Turnover was 1.9 billion shares worth 12.6 billion baht (373 million dollars).

"The market fell on technical profit-taking in the banking and financial sectors," said Pichai Lertsupongkit, senior vice president at Thanachart Securities.

"Foreign investors also sold shares due to concerns over the subprime crisis," he said, adding losses across the region also dampened sentiment.

Thailand's top energy firm PTT was unchanged at 378.00, and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production fell 2.00 baht to 141.00.

The kingdom's top lender Bangkok Bank was flat at 121.00, and the third largest lender Kasikorn Bank shed 1.00 to 84.00.

JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 0.5 percent higher, with the mood brightened by faster-than-expected economic growth for the third quarter to September, dealers said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 13.95 points at 2,705.82, off a low of 2,678.77 and a high of 2,716.70, on volume of 4.34 billion shares valued at 6.06 trillion rupiah (649.87 million dollars).

Decliners narrowly led gainers 95 to 94, with 63 stocks unchanged.

Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday the economy had expanded by 6.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, citing strong growth in consumption.

The higher-than-expected figure puts Indonesia back on track to meet its target of 6.3 percent growth for this year, said Citigroup economist Anton Gunawan.

Gas distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara surged 1,500 rupiah or 10.5 percent to 15,800.

Nickel and gold miner Antam added 150 rupiah to 4,350, tin miner Timah rose 850 rupiah to 23,650 and coal producer Bumi Resources edged up 25 to 4,825.

MANILA: Philippine share prices closed 0.3 percent lower as investors locked in gains after Wall Street's lacklustre performance overnight, dealers said.

They said gains in index leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) and mining stocks trimmed losses in the broader market.

The composite index finished down 9.40 points at 3,672.22. Volume amounted to 6.8 billion shares worth 4.6 billion pesos (106.8 million dollars).

The broader all-share index fell 10.83 points to 2,248.02.

"We saw a lot of play in mining and oil stocks but there was no clear trend in the blue-chips. Investors took a cautious stance ahead of the central bank's meeting," said Nestor Aguila of DA Market Securities.

The Philippine central bank was largely expected to trim interest rates by 25 basis points Thursday.

PLDT, the nation's biggest company by market value, rose to 3,050.

Food and beverage group San Miguel's A-shares rose 50 centavos to 53 pesos but its B-shares were steady at 54.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.67 percent lower amid weakness in other Asian markets, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index dropped 27.60 points to 4,113.05 on turnover worth 103.04 million dollars (78.26 million US).

"Obviously we were lower as expected, on moderate volume," said Stephen Wright of ASB Securities.

Among the three top stocks, Telecom was down nine cents at 4.21 dollars, Fletcher Building was off 10 cents at 11.58 and Contact Energy was up a cent at 8.90.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances jumped 15 cents to 3.60 dollars on news it was considering selling its finance business.

"The thing is with finance companies, in the past it's been wonderfully profitable but in the last year or so it's just been tougher," Wright said.

MUMBAI: Indian share prices fell 0.72 percent as sentiment turned cautious and investors locked-in gains, dealers said.

They said strong global oil prices kept sentiment weak.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 144.17 points to 19,784.89, after rising a record 893.58 points or 4.69 percent on Wednesday.

"There are still global concerns which could keep the markets volatile," said Advait Date, a dealer with broker BHH Securities.