"The Nikkei has risen for four days straight. It rose more than 500 points over the period," said Hiroichi Nishi, senior market analyst. "It just took a breezer today as players took profits." Shortly after the market opened, the index reached an intra-day high of 16,192.78 in line with a rebound on Wall Street.

In New York Wednesday, the technology-heavy Nasdaq gained 67.26 points to close at 3,523.09, while the Dow Jones industrials rose 64.74 points to 10,784.48.

Hong Kong: Hong Kong share prices rose 1.9 per cent, led by China Mobile after the company's alliance with Vodafone Group and its acquisition of seven mobile networks in China. The benchmark Hang Seng index gained 305.79 points to close at 16,184.68. Alan Shum, an analyst with New Century Securities, said China Mobile accounted for 70 per cent of the rise in the Hang Seng index following news of the network purchases and the Vodafone deal Wednesday.

"The Hang Seng Index was mainly boosted by China Mobile. It accounted for at least 240 points of the advance in the Hang Seng index," he said. China Mobile was up 4.25 dollars at 59.00. Dealers said train operator MTR Corp's market debut was well-received and its share price was likely to be maintained around 11 to 13 dollars in the near term. MTR Corp closed at 11.60 dollars, off a high of 13.00 and a low of 11.50. Its issue price was 9.38 dollars.

Singapore: Singapore shares closed 0.9 per cent up after a higher closing on Wall Street and Nasdaq overnight. But the gains could be short-lived, dealers said, after the Straits Times Index gained 18.32 points to 1,995.01.

"For the market recovery to be convincing, buying has to be more broad-based. Right now, people are buying a few blue chips like banks," said a dealer with a local brokerage. "The volumes are quite thin and Wall Street's recovery remains unconvincing," he said, adding that concerns over earnings in the technology sector will continue to weigh down sentiment.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian shares closed slightly lower with falls in some blue chips offsetting bargain-hunting in other counters. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index ended down 3.74 points, or 0.5 percent, at 704.16.

An institutional dealer with a local brokerage said blue chips were mostly lower in the absence of institutional support and this dragged down the composite index.

SEOUL: South Korean share prices closed 1.4 per cent higher, led by banks and select blue chips on expectations of stepped-up restructuring efforts. The composite index closed up 8.37 ponts at 606.79, off a high of 616.22.

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth 132.1 billion won, institutions were net sellers of shares worth 68.1 billion won and retail investors were net sellers of shares worth 76.9 billion won.

Manila: Philippine shares ended a five-day losing streak with a 1.2 per cent gain after monetary officials ordered banks to raise reserve requirements to ease pressure on the weakening peso. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index added 16.41 points to close at 1,389.11. Investors bought into blue chips which have fallen to bargain lows following the announcement.

Taipei: Taiwanese share prices closed 0.5 percent higher to reclaim the 6,000 support level on strong government buying. The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index rose 31.73 points to 6,029.65 following a 2.4-percent decline in the previous session.

Bangkok: Thai shares slipped 0.9 per cent on selling of banking and other finance stocks by retail investors. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index dropped 2.34 points to close at 269.51 points and the SET 50 index was off 0.18 points at 18.47. ABN Amro Asia Securities' Paibool Rachniyom said the market failed to hold above 275 points due to the lack of positive leads.

Jakarta: Indonesian share prices closed 1.2 per cent higher on bargain hunting in blue chips and interest in second line stocks. The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed up 5.066 points at 423.896 on a volume of 650.1 million shares valued at 379.62 billion rupiah (43.2 million dollars).