Asian shares close mixed, cautious ahead of US Fed chairman's testimony: HONG KONG - Shares across the Asia-Pacific region closed mixedwith markets cautious ahead of the testimony to the US Congress tonight by USFederal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, dealers said. Tokyo share prices finished higher, ending a five-day losing streak, asinvestors sought bargains after the benchmark Nikkei index dropped by more than400 points yesterday, dealers said. But the gains were limited as investors awaited the release of US inflationdata for last month and Bernanke's testimony to Congress, and for a string ofearnings reports this week by US high-technology firms such as Intel Corp, AppleComputer Co Inc and Microsoft Corp, they added. Uncertainty about the effect of the conflict in the Middle East on financialand commodities markets also weighed on the market, they said. The blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 63.02 points or 0.4 pct higherat 14,500.26, after touching a high of 14,625.64. The broader TOPIX index of all first-section issues closed 0.14 points or0.01 pct higher at 1,475.42, off a high of 1,489.03. "Basically, investors want to see what the geopolitical risks raised by theconflict in Lebanon will result in," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund managerat Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "If crude oil prices continue to rise, this will cause inflation, possiblyleading the Federal Reserve to make additional hikes in interest rates, evenafter August, and this would increase the risk of stagflation," he said. Australian shares closed lower for the fifth consecutive trading day asearly investor sentiment, buoyed by an overnight rise on Wall Street, reversedlater in the session, dealers said. They said volatile trade was likely to continue because of on-going concernsabout geopolitical tensions, high oil prices and interest rates. The S&P/ASX 200 shed 23.2 points or 0.47 pct to close at 4,900.1. The benchmark indicator closed off the day's low of 4,899.9 and below a highof 4,955.7. Hong Kong shares were higher in afternoon trade as investors picked upselect blue chips after the market fell over 470 points in the last four tradingdays, dealers said. They said Wall Street's moderate gains overnight and an advance in Tokyohelped the recovery although the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and thepossibility of further credit tightening measures in China put a lid on theupside. At 3.28 pm the Hang Seng Index was up 77.16 points or 0.48 pct at 16,121.10. In mainland China, A-shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen closed sharply lower onfears of credit-tightening measures, with banks and metal companies hit, dealerssaid. The Shanghai A-share Index slid 41.23 points or 2.33 pct to 1,729.69 and theShenzhen A-share Index was down 10.69 points or 2.37 pct at 440.60. Seoul shares ended well off their intraday highs with foreign investorscontinuing to sell, offsetting institutional bargain hunting interest, dealerssaid. The market failed to sustain early momentum, with only selected ITbellwethers enjoying gains, as investors were cautious ahead of the US Fedchairman's testimony and wanted to hear Bernanke's comments on US inflationrisks, they added. The KOSPI index closed up 0.23 points or 0.02 pct at 1,233.65, after tradingbetween 1,244.58 and 1,231.05.[From Internet] Best wishes, Suman Mukherje India. http://www.pkblogs.com/sumanspeaks