Seoul  - Shares fell sharply Friday on the

Tokyo - The Tokyo market ended Friday morning trading lower after stocks on Wall Street fell to their lowest levels in more than six years.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 102.25 points, or 1.35 per cent, to 7,455.4.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also down 6.41 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 745.18.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 93.99-94.04 yen, up from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 93.56-58 yen.

Bangkok  - Thailand's gold prices hit an historic high of 16,500 baht (465.40 dollars) per 15.2 grams Thursday, in tandem with rising prices for the precious metal on the world market.

"This is the highest gold price in the history of our market," Gold Traders Association chairman Jitti Tangsithpakdi said.

Thursday was the fourth consecutive day for local gold prices to rise to historic highs, starting at 15,950 baht per one baht weight (15.2 grams) on Monday.

Gold is commonly sold in jewelry form in Thailand, mostly at gold shops in Bangkok's Chinatown district, at prices slightly below the world market's as the gold content is not 100 per cent.

After opening with a small gain of 19.72 points, Indian equities continued to trade marginally higher with selective buying and selling seen across some of the pivotal stocks.
 
For the week ended Feb 7, 2009, India’s benchmark wholesale price index (WPI), inflation fell below 4% to 3.92%, as compared to 4.39% during the last week, mainly because of declining worldwide crude oil prices

The annual inflation rate was 4.98 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has got complaints of insider trading by Reliance Petroleum (RPL) and 18 other companies during the last 3 years.

Without disclosing the companies’ names, Mr. Pranab said that the market regulator (SEBI) received complaints of alleged insider trading in the shares of nine companies.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks bounced back Thursday as investors bought mainly export-oriented issues on the US dollar's advance against the yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 37.93 points in morning trading, or 0.5 per cent, to 7,572.37. The index hit a four-month low the previous day on worries over a prolonged recession worldwide.

The broader Topix index of all first section issues was also up 3.09 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 752.35.