BANGKOK - MOST Asian stock markets rose Friday as investors bought beaten-down shares on hopes that China's big interest rate cut will stimulate growth and optimism over Wall Street's four-day rally.

Indian stocks edged lower after a one-day suspension of trading due to terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the country's financial centre, that left at least 119 people dead. The benchmark Sensex index opened 1 per cent lower and then fluctuated in and out of positive territory. In late morning trading, it was down 0.2 per cent at 9,011.

Across the region, Mumbai attacks - as well as Bangkok's airport shutdown, which entered its fourth day - did little to dampen improving investor sentiment. Thailand's SET index was up 1.2 per cent at 394.29.

'The market is reacting very calmly to the terrorist attack,' said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. 'Investors in Hong Kong are still fixated on China's huge reduction in interest rates. There's bargain-hunting across the board.'

There are some hopes in markets that a raft of policy measures around the world, such as the rescue of Citigroup Inc, may limit the scale of the global downturn next year, though the upcoming Christmas sales period is not expected to be particularly good for retailers.

Investors will be closely watching indications of sales on Friday across the United States. The day after the Thanksgiving holiday is traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 index surged 4.3 per cent. South Korea's market was also up.

Japanese investors were heartened by a relatively strong showing by European shares Thursday as they made some end-of-month purchases, said Seichi Miura, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in Tokyo. On Thursday, Britain's FTSE 100 index rose 1.8 per cent, while Germany's DAX gained 2.3 per cent.

Investors also were waiting to see how the terror attacks in India played out, Mr Miura said. 'Right now, it doesn't appear to be a sell or buy factor.' In Hong Kong, investors were buying up shares of property companies, as well as China Shenhua Energy Ltd, in reaction to Beijing's recent moves to stimulate the economy through a multi-billion dollar spending program and a 1.08 percentage point rate cut announced on Wednesday - the biggest in 11 years. China Mobile was another gainer, up 3.3 per cent.

With Wall Street closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, regional investors were still feeling upbeat about the US market's four-day gain - a feat not seen in months.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.9 per cent higher Wednesday at 8,726.61, its first four-day winning streak since April 15-18. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 3.5 per cent to 887.68, its first four-day advance since May.

The rally came despite further poor news on the American economy, a vital export market. Figures showed durable goods orders in October slumped by a two-year high rate of 6.2 per cent, new home sales at a 17-year low and consumer sentiment languishing at a 28-year low.

US stock index futures were higher. Dow futures were up 20 points at 8,718 while S&P futures were up 1.8 points at 888.

Oil prices fell below US$54 (S$81) a barrel in Asia as investors eyed a possible production cut by Opec this weekend amid a gloomy global demand outlook. Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down US$1.10 to US$53.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. -- AP

TOKYO
Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 1.66 per cent on Friday in a quiet session, with no lead from Wall Street where markets were closed overnight for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Nikkei climbed 138.88 points to finish at 8,512.27.

KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian shares on Friday closed 0.4 per cent lower on profit taking while some investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the central bank?s third quarter growth announcement, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index shed 3.84 points to end the day at 866.14.

SHANGHAI
Chinese shares closed down 2.44 per cent on Friday as investors collected profits on property and financial stocks after massive rate cuts triggered a rally in the previous session, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, closed down 46.71 points at 1,871.16 on turnover of 50.5 billion yuan (S$11.1 billion).

The Shanghai A-share index fell 49.12 points, or 2.44 per cent, to 1,965.19 on turnover of 50.3 billion yuan, while the Shenzhen A-share index lost 4.94 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 567.39 on turnover of 22.5 billion yuan.

HONG KONG
Hong Kong share prices closed 2.5 per cent higher on Friday, supported by gains in properties and heavyweight HSBC, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 336.18 points to 13,888.24. Turnover was HK$42.37 billion (S$8.2 billion). -- AFP, BERNAMA