Philippine stocks closed 0.056 percent higher on Thursday. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index grew by 1.72 points to 3,085.58, while the all-share index went up by 0.83 points or 0.043 percent to 1,931.45. The trade volume reached 1.14 billion shares worth 2.26 billion pesos (49.1 million U.S. dollars). SEOUL -- South Korean stocks finished higher Thursday as investor's confidence in the market overcame worries over China's tightening monetary policy. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 7.63 points to 1,722.01, reaching the highest level since Sept. 22. Volume was moderate at 536.8 million shares worth 5.66 trillion won (4.98 billion U.S dollars). HANOI -- Vietnam's stock market index, VN-Index, closed at 478. 42 points on Thursday, down 11.08 points, or 2.26 percent, against the previous trading day. A total of 41.82 million shares worth 1.86 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (100.78 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. Prices of 15 stocks went up, 180 dropped while 12 remained unchanged. TAIPEI -- Share prices on the Taiwan stock market closed lower Thursday, with the weighted index down 93.06 points, or 1.13 percent at 8,127.87. The market opened lower at 8,189.50 and moved between 8,107.55 and 8,208.21 during the day's trading, with 4.61 billion shares changing hands on a total turnover of 129.20 billion new Taiwan dollars (4.08 billion U.S. dollars). TOKYO -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Thursday with the key Nikkei index up 1.22 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average gained 130.89 points to 10,868. 41. The broader Topix index was up 11.31 points, or 1.20 percent, to 956.03. Trading volume on the main section expanded to 2,623.04 million shares from 2,435.15 million Wednesday. BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 3,158.86 points Thursday, up 0.22 percent, or 7.01 points, from the previous close. A Share Index: 3,312.16 points, up 7.21 points, or 0.22 percent; B Share Index: 262.94 points, up 2.84 points, or 1.09 percent; Total Turnover: 142.1 billion yuan (20.8 billion U.S. dollars). BEIJING -- The Shenzhen Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at 12,917.15 points Thursday, up 1 points, or 0.01 percent, from the previous close. A Share Index: 13,866.54 points, up 1.07 points, or 0.01 percent; B Share Index: 4,340.28 points, down 55.43 points, or 1.26 percent; Total Turnover: 83.5 billion yuan (12.23 billion U.S. dollars). HONG KONG -- Hong Kong stocks fell 1.99 percent or 423.50 points to close at 20,862.67 on Thursday. Turnover rose to 83.13 billion HK dollars (10.71 billion U.S. dollars) from Wednesday's 74.62 billion HK dollars (9.62 billion U. S. dollars). JAKARTA -- Indonesian shares closed lower on Thursday as banking and mining shares declined, triggering a 28 point correction. The market index closed 28.884 points (1.08 percent) lower to 2, 638.382 with transaction volume being 3.841 billion shares worth 3. 739 trillion rupiah (about 373.9 million U.S. dollars). COLOMBO -- Share prices on the Colombo Stock Exchange closed lower on Thursday, with the key Colombo All Share Price Index decreasing by 12.70 points or 0.36 percent to close at 3,519.71 points. The highly capitalized Milanka Price Index also decreased by 30. 18 points or 0.74 percent to close at 4,040.90 points. A total turnover of 728.42 million rupees (about 6.33 million U. S. dollars) was recorded during the day with a volume of 39.01 million shares being traded. 