<div><p>Uncertainty over US President Barack Obama's bank revamp plans and fears of policy tightening by Beijing spooked risk-averse investors in Asian trade Monday, as financial stocks continued to slide.</p><p>World market sentiment has soured since Obama unveiled on Thursday plans for a tough banking reform that would limit "excessive" risk-taking blamed for the economic crisis, a move that would affect the scope of financial institutions.</p><p>Fears Beijing will curb credit as it tries to rein in its scorching economy have also eroded risk appetite, while its calls for banks to raise funds to meet regulatory requirements have prompted concerns of share value dilution.</p><p>Confidence is "brittle due to concerns about further tightening measures in China," Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.</p><p>Shanghai closed down 1.09 percent with banks leading the losses after Bank of China announced aggressive plans over the weekend to issue new shares and a 40 billion yuan (5.9 billion dollar) convertible bond sale.</p><p>The Shanghai Composite Index shed 34.18 points to 3,094.41.</p><p>Dealers fear other mainland banks will also launch fund-raising plans to shore up their balance sheets amid stricter regulatory requirements for capital after boosting lending to support the government's massive stimulus efforts.</p><p>Bank of China shares saw volatile trade, closing down 0.48 percent to 4.14 yuan. "Banks may continue to fall, as investors are unsure how successful the capital-raising exercises would be," said Simon Wang, an analyst at Guoyuan Securities.</p><p>Hong Kong shares closed down 0.62 percent, or 127.63 points, to 20,598.55 in their fourth straight day of decline. Heavyweight HSBC fell 1.6 percent to 84.30 Hong Kong dollars.</p><p>In Tokyo the Nikkei was down 0.74 percent, or 77.86 points, to 10,512.69. Seoul's KOSPI shed 0.84 percent, or 14.15 points, to 1,670.20.</p><p>"It seems that the Obama administration is trying to fight the decline in (its voter) support by addressing popular criticism against the financial sector," said Mizuho Securities analyst Yukio Takahashi.</p><p>"This issue could continue to weigh on Wall Street."</p><p>The region saw broad falls following a 2.09 percent slump on the Dow Jones index Friday, its biggest weekly drop since February 2009.</p><p>Sydney shed 0.69 percent, with the S&P/ASX200 down 32.7 points at 4,717.9.</p><p>Financials were hardest hit, with Westpac down 1.8 percent at 24.92 Australian dollars (22.55 US) and ANZ 1.6 percent lower at 22.29. Mining giants BHP Billiton fell 1.1 percent to 41.25 but Rio Tinto rose 0.6 percent to 73.34.</p><p>Markets also grappled with doubts about the future of US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke after key Democratic senators said last week they would oppose his reappointment after his first term ends on January 31.</p><p>Top-ranking members of the US Senate banking committee, however, voiced confidence Saturday that he would be confirmed for a second term.</p><p>The dollar edged higher to 90.10 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, from 89.91 in New York late Friday.</p><p>The euro rose to 1.4170 dollars after 1.4135 and to 127.67 yen from 127.03.</p><p>Oil was higher. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, rose 10 cents to 74.64 dollars a barrel in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude gained 32 cents to 73.15 dollars.</p><p>Hong Kong gold closed at 1,100.00-1,101.00 US dollars an ounce, up from Friday's close of 1,097.00-1,098.00 dollars.</p><p>In other markets:</p><p>-- Singapore closed 0.28, or eight points, lower at 2,811.71.</p><p>"Local investors may well follow the lead from Wall Street players who are for the time being ignoring good news on the earnings front," said AmFraser retail research head Najeeb Jarhom.</p><p>DBS bank was down 12 cents at 14.70 and Singapore Airlines dipped 16 cents to 14.02.</p><p>-- Taiwan closed down 54.32 points, or 0.69 percent, at 7,872.99.</p><p>"Wall Street will continue to dictate the local trading amid weak sentiment towards financial firms," Grand Cathay Securities analyst Mars Hsu said.</p><p>Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co closed down 1.15 percent at 60.40, while Hon Hai Precision Industry closed up 1.09 percent at 139.50.</p><p>-- Jakarta lost 12.48 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,597.86.</p><p>The fall came despite Fitch Ratings upgrading Indonesia's sovereign credit rating to one notch below investment grade, reflecting the country's resilience to the global slump.</p><p>Foreign funds continued to sell, dealers said. Bank Danamon lost 6.2 percent to 4,925 rupiah and car distributor Astra fell 1.2 percent to 33,400.</p><p>-- Kuala Lumpur lost 3.66 points, or 0.28 percent to 1,296.79.</p><p>Medical gloves manufacturer Supermax rose 6.2 percent 5.62 ringgit (1.65 dollars) but Nestle fell 0.5 percent to 33.50.</p><p>-- Bangkok lost 3.71 points or 0.52 percent to close at 710.39.</p><p>Coal producer Banpu plunged 26.00 baht to close at 548.00 and energy firm PTT Plc fell 3.00 baht to 226.00.</p><p>-- New Zealand was flat, with the NZX-50 index down 1.77 points at 3,188.66.</p><p>Fletcher Building rose five cents to 8.02 dollars.</p><p>-- Manila closed 1.84 percent lower. The composite index fell 55.51 points to 2,967.96.</p><p>Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. fell 0.55 percent to 2,685 pesos (58.12 dollars) while Energy Development Corp. dropped four percent to 4.80 pesos.</p><p>-- Mumbai fell 0.47 percent, or 79.22 points, to 16,780.46, a fifth straight loss.</p><p>Rate-sensitive stocks were hit by concerns the central bank may tighten monetary policy Friday.</p><p>Property firm DLF fell 2.77 percent to 344 while the country's largest vehicle maker Tata Motors fell 1.33 percent to 768.2.</p><p>Auto and farm equipment maker Mahindra and Mahindra fell 5.24 percent to 1,072.35.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67738553&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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