WELLINGTON SHARES drifted through a lacklustre session to finish lower mainly because of lack of buying support.

The NZSE-40 capital index fell 4.62 points to 1,553.25.

Volume was light at NZ$20 million.

TAIPEI PRICES moved narrowly to finish mixed in cautious trade as consolidation continued.

The weighted index closed 7.45 points higher at 4,654.68, while turnover fell to a moderate NT$50.45 billion from Tuesday's $72.87 billion.

TOKYO STOCKS ended easier, shedding morning gains on profit-taking ahead of the March 31 book-closing.

The Nikkei has lost ground for two straight days for the first time in about three weeks, but brokers said the underlying trend was still upward.

The 225-share Nikkei average was down 40.93 points, 0.22 per cent, at 18,450.69, with an estimated 350 million shares traded.

MANILA PRICES edged up following an increase in the price of market leader Philippine Long Distance Telephone in New York, but analysts say the rally will be hard to maintain.

SEOUL LATE institutional support and healthy foreign interest subdued the ravages of early profit-taking centred on financial shares, and the stock market ended only a fraction lower in weak trading.

The composite stock index shed 0.29 points to 666.66.

BANGKOK THE Stock Exchange of Thailand index fell 3.12 points to close at 886.7 points as investors stuck to the side lines.

Trading was thin as the market fell for the third straight day. A total of 29.05 million shares worth 2.1 billion baht changed hands.

SINGAPORE PRICES closed easier with buyers retreating ahead of a market holiday today.

The 30-share Straits Times Industrial index fell 2.97 points to 1,652.05 on volume of 86.67 million shares against 80.93 million on Tuesday. Falls led gains by 117 to 113 while 183 were unchanged.

THE Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur markets were closed.

The Chinese share prices are provided by Telerate. All other prices are provided by Reuter.