Asian shares mixed with Japan in the red and Australia gaining (MarketWatch) (08-05-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Exporters in Tokyo pulled the Nikkei 225 down, while banks in Australia pushed local indices up despite drops in commodity prices, and Asian shares traded mostly lower Thursday.

The Nikkei closed the session 1.13% down at 13,943.20, while South Korea's Kospi closed down by 0.60% at 1.745.17. Australia's S&P ASX 200 closed at 5,723.20.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended the day lower by 0.44% closing at 25,498.90

The Shanghai Composite Index declined, then rose to close 2.17% higher to 3,656.84. Taiwan's Weighted Price Index fell 0.67% to 8,866.82.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index was down 1.1 %, Malaysia's KLSE Composite Index was down 0.5% and Thailand's SET fell 0.1%.

In Sydney the Commonwealth Bank of Australia reassured by stating it is well-positioned to ride out the global credit crisis and doesn't have any need or plans to raise additional capital and its shares gained 3.5% following the news.

Analysts said the assurance from Commonwealth Bank eased concerns other banks would need to raise capital and bolstered the broader market. Shares of Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia's largest investment bank, added 0.3%.

Shares of News Corp. climbed 2.6% in Sydney after the company reported a strong profit increase in the third fiscal quarter helped by a big gain on asset trading and a higher result from its television unit. The company released results after the close of U.S. markets Wednesday. News Corp. owns MarketWatch, the publisher of this report.

Among energy shares, Hong Kong-listed Citic Resources Holdings Ltd, China's fourth-largest oil producer, climbed 5.%, while China's leading offshore driller, CNOOC Ltd added 0.5%. Shares of BHP Billiton, Australia's top oil and gas producer, were down 0.9%, while Rio Tinto fell 1.7%

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Source MarketWatch