Xinhua summary of Asia-Pacific stocks news at 1100 GMT, Jan. 14

Seoul shares ended lower on Wednesday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) inched down 3.48 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,913.66 at the close. Trading volume stood at 281 million shares worth 4.34 trillion won (4 billion U.S. dollars).

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TOKYO -- Tokyo stocks fell 1.71 percent on Wednesday, dragged down by tumbling crude oil prices and a firmer yen.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average declined 291.75 points, from Tuesday at 16,795.96, its lowest close in nearly a month.

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SYDNEY -- The Australian share market has dropped for a third consecutive day on Wednesday falling nearly 1 percent.

Materials lost 2.64 percent as a sector. BHP Billiton retreated 2.75 percent, Rio Tinto lost 3.34 percent, Fortescue Metals fell 8. 24 percent, while Newcrest gave up 3.94 percent.

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MANILA -- Philippine shares closed 1.24 percent higher on Wednesday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index increased by 91. 88 points to 7490.88. The all-share index went up by 37.55 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,376.25.

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HONG KONG -- Hong Kong stocks closed down 103.37 points, or 0. 43 percent to 24,112.60 points on Wednesday.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 24,056.22 and 24, 326.70. Turnover totaled 89.94 billion HK dollars (about 11.59 billion U.S. dollars).

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TAIPEI -- Taiwan's share prices closed down 0.55 percent on Wednesday with the weighted index down 51.57 points at 9,180.23, according to news reaching here from Taipei.

Turnover totaled 91.99 billion new Taiwan dollars (about 2.89 billion U.S. dollars) during the trading session.

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HO CHI MINH CITY -- VN-Index, the stock market index of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City bourse in southern Vietnam,closed at 577.01 points on Wednesday, down 3.59 points, or 0.62 percent, against the previous trading day's closing session.

About 108.938 million shares worth 1.979 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (92.27 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the HCM City Stock Exchange.

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HANOI -- Stock market index of Vietnam's capital Hanoi, HNX- Index, closed at 84.86 points on Wednesday, down 0.32 points, or 0. 38 percent, against the previous trading session.

A total of 52.144 million shares worth 621.586 billion Vietnamese dong (29.46 million U.S. dollars) were traded at the Hanoi Stock Exchange on Wednesday, an increase of 7.43 percent in volume and a decrease of 16.92 percent in value against the previous trading session.

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JAKARTA -- Indonesian shares closed lower by 54.69 points, or 1. 05 percent, to a level of 5,159.67 on Wednesday.

Some 246,594 transactions were booked, involving 7.67 billion shares worth 5.57 trillion rupiah (about 442.3 million U.S. dollars).

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KUALA LUMPUR -- The Malaysian stock market ended lower here on Wednesday.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was at 1,742.01, down 6. 89 points or 0.4 percent from the previous closing, and the Emas was at 11,991.06, down 20.68 points or 0.17 percent.

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SINGAPORE -- Singapore stocks finished lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) down 14.91 points, or 0.45 percent, to close at 3,326.16.

A total of 1.18 billion shares changed hands with turnover of 1. 13 billion Singapore dollars (about 904 million U.S. dollars).

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BANGKOK -- The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index Wednesday moved down 11.73 points, or 0.76 percent to close at 1,523.24 points.

Some 18.59 billion shares worth 49.10 billion baht (about 1.50 billion U.S. dollars) changed hands.

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BEIJING -- The Shenzhen Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at 11,237.78 points on Wednesday, down 1.04 percent.

A Share Index: 13,029.74 points, down 1.04 percent.

B Share Index: 6,986.37 points, down 0.98 percent.

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BEIJING -- China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 3,222.44 points on Wednesday, down 0.4 percent.

A Share Index: 3,376.55 points, down 0.4 percent;

B Share Index: 290.13 points, down 0.07 percent. Endi