Philippine stocks closed 0.72 percent higher on Wednesday. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index increased by 20.63 points to 2,884.81, while the all-share index went up by 9.17 points or 0.5 percent to 1,839.72. The trade volume reached 912.3 million shares worth 2.043 billion pesos (44 million U.S. dollars). WELLINGTON -- The New Zealand sharemarket fell on Wednesday while other markets rose as investors continued to bide their time until companies report earnings this month. The sharemarket closed 0.39 percent lower with the benchmark NZSX-50 down 12.25 points at 3135.11, with a turnover of 80.2 million NZ dollars (56.99 million U.S. dollars). HANOI -- Vietnam's stock market index, VN-Index, closed at 495. 48 points on Wednesday, up 7.55 points, or 1.55 percent, against the previous trading day. A total of 26.57 million shares worth 1.22 billion Vietnamese dong (VND) (66.19 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. HNX-Index, the index of Vietnam's Hanoi Stock Exchange, went up 1.01 points, or 0.63 percent, to 161.92 points. SEOUL -- South Korean shares closed higher Wednesday on Wall Street gains that lifted investor sentiment. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 19.21 points, or 1.20 percent, to 1,615.02. Volume was moderate at 432.5 million shares worth 4.39 trillion won (3.82 billion U.S. dollars). TOKYO -- Nikkei rose Wednesday on resource-related shares because of higher commodity prices, but gains were capped by blue chips such as Toyota Motor, the sales of which was feared to be hit from global recalls. The Nikkei-225 index closed up 33.24 points, or 0.32 percent, from Tuesday to 10,404.33. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 2.86 points, or 0.31 percent, to 915. 68. Trading volume on the main section came to 2,064.42 million shares, up from Tuesday's 1,876.43 million. TAIPEI -- Share prices on the Taiwan stock market closed higher Wednesday, with the weighted index up 1.59 percent at 7,547.98. The weighted index rose 118.37 points after trading between 7, 550.82 and 7,441.92, with a total turnover of 91.5 billion new Taiwan dollars (2.88 billion U.S. dollars). HONG KONG -- Hong Kong stocks rose 449.9 points, or 2.22 percent, to close at 20,722.08 on Wednesday. Turnover totaled 68.64 billion HK dollars (8.84 billion U.S. dollars), compared with Tuesday's 62.44 billion HK dollars (8.05 billion U.S. dollars). SHANGHAI -- China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 3,003.84 points Wednesday, up 2. 36 percent, or 69.13 points, from the previous close. Total turnover was 119.05 billion yuan (17.43 billion U.S. dollars). SHENZHEN -- The Shenzhen Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at 12,262.57 points Wednesday, up 349.64 points, or 2.93 percent, from the previous close. Total turnover was 79.66 billion yuan (11.66 billion U.S. dollars). JAKARTA -- Share prices on the Indonesia Stock Exchange closed higher on Wednesday. The composite index increase 24.19 points, or 0.94 percent to close at 2,604.44 with 5.2 billion shares worth 3.4 trillion rupiah (some 370 million U.S. dollars) changing hands. DHAKA -- Bangladesh's main bourse -- Dhaka Stock Exchange All Shares Price Index (DSI), the benchmark index, closed at 4,445.81 points on Wednesday, down 86.57 points or 1.91 percent from Tuesday's finish. The total turnover came down to about 16.38 billion taka (about 233.93 million U.S. dollars) on Wednesday from about 16.91 billion taka (about 241.57 million U.S. dollars) on Tuesday. SINGAPORE -- The shares prices in Singapore rose 43.97 points or 1.62 percent on Wednesday with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) closing at 2,764.84 points. The overall volume stood at 1.70 billion shares worth 1.50 billion Singapore dollars (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars). COLOMBO -- Share prices on the Colombo Stock Exchange closed lower on Wednesday, with the key Colombo All Share Price Index decreasing by 11.33 points or 0.31 percent to close at 3,697.80 points. The highly capitalized Milanka Price Index also decreased by 25. 64 points or 0.60 percent to close at 4,239.57 points. A total turnover of 1.61 billion rupees (about 13.99 million U. S. dollars) was recorded during the day with a volume of 44.19 million shares being traded. KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysia stock market ended higher here on Wednesday. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was at 1,267.15, up 3.39 points or 0.27 percent, and the Emas was at 8,542.99, up 34.23 points or 0.40 percent. Turnover decreased to 865.08 million shares valued at 1.13 billion ringgit Malaysia (331.96 million U.S. dollars). BANGKOK -- The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index moved up 13.58 points, or 1.96 percent, to close at 707.65 points on Wednesday. Some 2.97 billion shares worth 16.06 billion baht (about 486.66 million U.S. dollars) changed hands. MUMBAI -- The Indian stock benchmark Sensex closed higher Wednesday at 16,496.05 points, up 332.61 points, or 2.06 percent, from the previous closing Tuesday. The total turnover was 222 million U.S. dollars. KARACHI -- The benchmark KSE 100-Index on Wednesday increased by 32.39 points to close at 9,627.63 levels, KSE 30-Index surged by 45.65 points to end at 10,026.99 levels, and KSE All Share Index gained 19.48 points to conclude at 6,826.88 levels. Turnover of 147.696 million shares was recorded. 