New York  - US stocks closed slightly lower Monday, ending a four-day rally and erasing earlier gains after the world's governments promised more measures to stabilize their economies.

Major stock indices were led lower in the final two hours of trading after American Express Co reported rising credit-card delinquency rates in February.

The Federal Reserve said that industrial output fell for the fourth straight month in February and was down 11 per cent over the year, the worst annual decline since 1975.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares surged by 3.6 per cent Monday to end a whisker below the 13,000 points mark on a fifth consecutive day of gains.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index gained 450.91 points to close at 12,976.71 points. Turnover was 46.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.02 billion US dollars.)

The surge in prices Monday brought the index's gains since the start of trading seven days ago to more than 1,000 points in the strongest rally for weeks.

Tokyo  - The Tokyo market ended Monday morning trading higher after the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers met over the weekend.

The Tokyo players bought a wide range of issues after the financial leaders of the world's largest economies vowed to combat the global recession and revive the international economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 184.83 points, or 2.44 per cent, to 7,754.11.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 21.48 points, or 2.97 per cent, at 745.78.

The benchmark Sensex, on Friday (March 13), marked its closure after making a gain of 412.86 points at 8,756.61, which is its highest gain in the current calendar year. The
30-share index achieved this on the back of all-round buying action witnessed across stocks, strong global signals despite sustained capital outflows.

On the other hand, the broad based NSE Nifty grew by 101.80 points (3.89%) at 2,719.25 on Friday. In the week ended March 13, 2009, Sensex surged 430.79 points to