Asia Roundup: Mixed on air of scepticism

HONG KONG: Asian shares were mixed yesterday as a Wall Street rally prompted by reports of an EU plan to help troubled banks was offset by lingering fears that Greece's debt crisis will become contagious.

While US traders welcomed a coordinated effort by European leaders to recapitalise lenders, Asian investors were more sceptical after news that Franco-Belgian bank Dexia would be broken up and Italy's debt rating was cut.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index gave up early gains and finished 73.14 points, or 0.86 per cent, lower at 8,382.98, but off a midday low of 8,343.01.

Sydney's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed in positive territory for the first time this week, ending up 54.3 points, or 1.40 per cent, at 3,926.4.

But IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock said the market's inability to cling to early gains - when it rallied to 3,951 - suggested investors remained sceptical of the latest proposals to resolve the European debt crisis.

CommSec chief equities economist Craig James said despite the rise there was "still a fair amount of caution".

Seoul shares closed 2.33 per cent lower with the benchmark Kospi down 39.67 points at 1,666.52.

The region was given a strong lead from Wall Street, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.44 per cent, the S&P 500 rose 2.25 per cent and the Nasdaq added 2.95 per cent on Tuesday.

But BBY senior institutional trader Peter Copeland warned in Sydney: "The market is going to treat this (US) rally with suspicion because there's no detailed plan (to contain the European debt crisis) yet."

"At the moment it's talk and nothing has been implemented," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

In other markets:

* Taipei shed 0.83 per cent, or 58.72 points, to 6,989.15.

* Manila fell 0.18 per cent, or 6.79 points, to 3,823.13.

* Jakarta shares rose 0.73 per cent, or 23.79 points, to 3,293.24.

* Bangkok edged up 0.84 per cent, or 7.20 points, to 862.65.

* Mumbai shares fell 0.46 per cent, or 72.45 points, to 15,792.41. - AFP