HONG KONG, Nov 24: Asian shares were lower on Monday as concerns persisted about the state of the global financial system, while traders seemed to ignore a multi-billion-dollar deal for ailing banking giant Citigroup.

The announcement in Washington to provide $20 billion to the bank, which lost half its share value last week, wasn’t enough to lift sentiment.

Hong Kong was down 1.6 per cent, Seoul 3.3 per cent, Shanghai 3.67 per cent and Singapore 2.52 per cent. Taipei lost 0.25 per cent, although Sydney bucked the trend and finished 0.3 per cent better off.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

The falls came despite a 6.54 per cent surge on Wall Street.

Investors need proper guidance on the news and are waiting to see the reaction in the US markets,” Phillip Asset Management fund manager Y.K. Chan told Dow Jones Newswires.

The US Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would protect the bank and give it $20 billion from the $700 billion rescue agreed by Congress.

Citigroup shares closed at $3.77 Friday, their lowest level in years.

The bank last Monday said it was slashing a near-record 50,000 jobs. At its peak last year, it employed 375,000 people.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed 1.6 per cent down.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index was off 201.26 points at 12,457.94. It opened at the day’s lowest level of 12,239.49, but pared losses and briefly moved into positive territory after news broke of the Citigroup bailout plan.

Turnover was 35.02 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.49 billion US), the lowest level since March 2007.

Banking giant HSBC fell three per cent, off its year-to-date low of 73 Hong Kong dollars, as the troubles at Citigroup spurred concerns over the outlook the UK lender’s US operations, analysts said.

Bank of China rose 2.3 per cent, CNOOC gained two per cent, and China Shenhua Energy added 1.4 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed up 0.3 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gained 8.6 points to close at 3,425.1 and the broader All Ordinaries rose 1.9 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 3,388.8.

Turnover was 1.18 billion shares worth 3.53 billion dollars (2.22 billion US).

Dealers said the materials and energy sectors helped the market, including the major gold miners.

BHP Billiton rose 6.8 per cent to 23.38 while Rio Tinto slipped 0.4 per cent to $59.80 .

Santos rose 3.6 per cent to $13.00 and Woodside Petroleum grew 3.7 per cent to $30.07 .

Commonwealth Bank fell 2.4 per cent to $30.22 , National Australia Bank shed 1.1 per cent to $18.80 and ANZ was off 3.4 per cent to 12.90 dollars, but Westpac was up 0.9 per cent to $16.50 .

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 2.52 per cent lower.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed down 41.81 points at 1,620.29 on slim volume of 790 million shares worth 650 million (US425 million).

Investors had been watching the fate of Citigroup but a deal announced after the close of the early trading session failed to lift sentiment.

Everybody is very edgy, and continuing to watch developments in the United States, one trader said.

DBS dropped 33 cents to 9.27 Singapore dollars, UOB was off 44 cents to 11.26, and OCBC fell five cents to 4.55.

CapitaLand was down 10 cents to 2.50, while Singapore Airlines lost 24 cents at 10.36, but Singapore Telecommunications rose three cents to 2.48.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 1.3 per cent lower.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index dropped 11.49 points to close at 855.39.

UEM Land dropped 8.5 per cent to 0.59 ringgit while plantation giant IOI Corp slid 3.4 per cent to 2.84 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.4 per cent lower.

The Jakarta Composite Index dropped 4.88 points to 1,141.40.

Nickel miner Inco fell 8.4 per cent to 1,850 rupiah and its rival Antam dropped 5.9 per cent to 960 on fears of further falls in nickel prices.

Bank Mandiri lost 4.5 per cent to 1,270 rupiah on expectations of weak fourth-quarter earnings.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.10 per cent lower.

The benchmark NZX-50 index was down 2.619 points at 2,575.48 on turnover worth 59.92 million (31.96 million US).

Telecom ended four cents down at 2.20.

Mainfreight was down 11 cents at 4.10 and Lyttelton Port closed three cents lower at 2.65

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 0.14 per cent . The benchmark 30-share Sensex fell 12.09 points to 8,903.12.—AFP