Washington  - The US government's decision to rescue banking giant Citigroup and the announcement of president-elect Barack Obama's economic team sent stocks soaring Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index posted the biggest two-day rally since 1987. The Dow jumped 396.97 points, or 4.93 per cent, to 8,443.39. The S&P 500 rose 51.78, or 6.47 per cent, to 851.81. And the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 87.67, or 6.33 per cent, to 1,472.02.

Citigroup, which lost more than 60 per cent of its value last week, bounced back 52 per cent Monday after the government agreed to give it 20 billion dollars from the

Amman  - The Central Bank of Jordan on Monday cut the basic interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, to 6.25 per cent, in what analysts considered a late attempt to boost stocks at the Amman Stock Exchange.

In a parallel move, CBJ Governor Umayya Touqan said that the banks' compulsory cash ratio had been trimmed to 9 per cent from 10 per cent.

"The measures were taken in view of the declining inflation rate, which fell 2 percentage points at the end of October from a month earlier, as well as expectations of further falls in future," Touqan said.

Bangkok - Thai shares lost 2.87 per cent of their value Monday on the country's political unrest.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended at 386.12, down 11.39 points or 2.87 per cent.

"The main factor is domestic politics," said Phuwadon Larpudomsuk, of Asia Plus Securities. "The market started off weak and got worse as the protests continued."

Singapore - Singapore share