Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors sold shares to lock in profits from the previous day's gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 185.43 points, or 1.47 per cent, in morning trading to 12,439.03.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 21.44 points, or 1.76 per cent, to 1,194.97.

Tokyo players sold shares to reap profits from Monday's rises when the Tokyo indices shot up more than 3 per cent on the US government taking control of the two largest US mortgage lenders and guarantors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Washington  - US stocks soared Monday as investors welcomed the government takeover of beleaguered mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index both climbed more than 2 per cent, after Asian and European stocks made extensive gains Monday.

Financial and homebuilding shares led the US surge after the Treasury on Sunday said it would place Fannie and Freddie in a conservatorship, replacing their chief executives and eliminating share dividends.

Amman  - The financial problems facing the US real estate mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not expected to have a "direct" impact on Arab markets, financial analysts said Monday.

"I don't think the difficulties suffered by the two US firms could have a direct impact on the Jordanian and other stock markets," Nizar Taher, head of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Beijing - China's two stock markets fell sharply Monday despite new rules designed to boost the markets and a global rebound sparked by the US government's bailout of two troubled mortgage giants.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in foreign and local currencies, lost 59.03 points, or 2.68 per cent, to end the day at a 21-month low of
2,143.42.

State media said concerns over slower economic growth and continuing slumps in petrochemical and property shares prompted Monday's fall in Shanghai and the smaller Shenzhen Compenent Index, which also lost about 3 per cent.

Stockholm - Nordic stock markets rebounded Monday in the wake of the US government bail-out of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Banking groups including Swedbank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) surged some 10 per cent in Stockholm where the OMX Stockholm 30 Index that groups the 30 most actively traded stocks gained some 4.1 per cent in mid-morning trading.

Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux that has has a large market in the US also increased as did engineering group Atlas Copco.

In Denmark, the OMX Copenhagen index gained 3.7 per cent while in Finland the Helsinki OMX index of 25 main stocks was up 3.3 per cent.

Amsterdam - The main index of the Dutch stock exchange AEX rose sharply on Monday following the US government's bail-out of American largest mortgage banks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday.

By 10:23 am (8:23 AM GMT) the AEX had risen by 3.89 per cent, with the financial funds gaining most.

Belgian-Dutch bank and insurance company Fortis rose 8.65 per cent and stood at 9.907 euros.

Insurer Aegon stood at 8.525 euros, up by 7.68 per cent, followed by ING Bank which rose by 7.64 per cent. Employment agency Randstad came in fourth, with shares rising 7.02 per cent.

Dutch-British food company Unilever was the only one to drop, down by 0.10 per cent.