Asia: Gold Shines, Telcos Fade

HONG KONG -- The Asian exchanges closed with mixed results Monday.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 13 points, or 0.2%, to 5497, while the Taiwanese Taiex jumped 144 points, or 1.8%, to 8173, propelled higher by stocks like Hon Hai Precision(HNHPF Quote), which gained 0.9%, to T$178.50. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 399 points, or 1.5%, to 26,468, as volume declined 14.8% from Friday, at HK$109.7 billion, or $14 billion. Gold pushed through $900 after hours, to a high of $914 an ounce. Japanese exchanges were closed for a national holiday, and reopen Tuesday.

"There is a short term rebound in [the Shanghai Composite Index], because of the correction during the second half of December," says Cheng Wei Qing, chief strategist at CITIC Securities in Beijing. "Everybody is talking about decoupling."

Qing adds that although he does not think that a decoupling of China and the U.S. is taking place, and that the Chinese economy may slow down in several quarters, "investors in the short term don't care about that."

In what was a highly political weekend for China, the opposition Kuomintang party won 81 parliamentary seats, or 51.3% of the national vote vs. 27 seats, or 37% for the democrats, while residents in Hong Kong protested on the streets over Beijing's announcement that it would delay elections on the island for the second time running, to around 2017.

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