HONG KONG, Feb 11: Asian markets fell on Wednesday, led by Hong Kong, as investors made the most of previous gains while financial shares lost out after a bank rescue plan in the United States was met with disappointment.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dived 2.5 per cent following five straight days of rises, while Sydney lost 0.4 per cent and Seoul 0.7 per cent.

But critics said it lacked detail. Wall Street tumbled on the news, darkening sentiment in Asia.

Shanghai lost 0.19 per cent as China announced exports had fallen 17.5 per cent year on year in January -- a third straight month of falls.

Tokyo was closed Wednesday for a public holiday.

HONG KONG: Down 2.5 per cent. The Hang Seng Index ended down 341.43 points at 13,539.21.

The market was led down by selling on blue-chips following previous rises.

Heavyweight HSBC led the falls, dropping 4.8 per cent to $59.95 .

SYDNEY: Down 0.4 per cent. The S&P/ASX200 was down 14.3 points at 3474.4.

The market’s holding up much better than we had expected, especially given the carnage on Wall Street, IG Markets research analyst Ben Potter said.

Commonwealth Bank and (miner Rio Tinto) are really driving sentiment, with both stocks well off their lows. Commonwealth Bank rose 32 cents, or 1.08 per cent, to 29.92 despite a 16 per cent fall in first-half profits.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Westpac fell one cent lower to $16.17 .

Rio rose 3.04, or 6.21 per cent, to 52.00, while rival BHP Billiton shed 98 cents, or 2.94 per cent, to 32.37 dollars.

SINGAPORE: Up 1.10 per cent. The Straits Times Index rose 18.68 points to 1,721.97.Trade remained cautious on concerns about weak corporate earnings, dealers said.

Bank shares rose, with United Overseas Bank rising 14 cents to 11.24. Property shares were mostly up. CapitaLand rose 11 cents to 2.74.

Singapore Airlines surged 44 cents to 10.88 and Singapore Telecommunications closed four cents higher at 2.52.

KUALA LUMPUR: Down 0.7 per cent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 6.45 points to close at 897.07.

Dealers attributed part of the selling to worse-than-expected domestic manufacturing data released Wednesday.

MMC Corp fell 4.6 per cent to 1.45 ringgit.

Resorts World gained 3.1 per cent to 2.32 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Down 0.6 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index fell 7.31 points to 1,324.82.The main index rebounded after it failed to break below the strong support level of 1,300, a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 3.6 percent to 4,075 rupiah.

Coal miner Bumi Resources gained 4.1 percent to 760 rupiah and rival Indika Energy jumped 3.6 per cent to 1,440.

MUMBAI: Down 0.3 percent. The Sensex closed down 0.3 per cent or 28.93 points at 9,618.54, snapping three days of gains.

WELLINGTON: Down 0.72 per cent. The NZX-50 index dropped 19.82 points to 2,730.22.It was a fairly lacklustre day. All of Asia is in the red and the US took a pounding, said Stephen Wright at ASB Securities. Telecom was down four cents at $2.59 .ANZ was down 21 cents to 15.19.—AFP