Tokyo shares closed down 1.46 percent Tuesday after Wall Street hit near 12-year lows as investors reacted with disappointment to Washington's strategy for rescuing ailing banks, stoking pessimism over the financial crisis.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 107.60 points to end at 7,268.56. At one point the benchmark briefly slipped below last October's closing low of 7,162.90, which was the weakest since 1982.

The Japanese government responded by saying it would consider taking fresh steps to halt the plunge.

"Excessive stock falls are undesirable. The government will consider what it can do if stock prices fall too much," Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano told Dow Jones Newswires without disclosing details.

Other Asian markets joined the sell-off Tuesday. In Seoul the benchmark KOSPI index closed down 3.24 percent while Sydney shed 0.6 percent and Taiwan gave up 1.06 percent.

Hong Kong shares ended a gruelling morning 3.5 percent lower. In Shanghai, Chinese shares closed down 4.56 percent in heavy selling across the board after the US slump.

The moves followed heavy falls in European and US markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average having earlier sank 3.41 percent to 7,114.78, crashing to its lowest close since May 1997.

Prices plunged after US authorities unveiled plans to tackle the toxic mortgage-related assets of banks that started the crisis more than a year ago, in a bid to restore fast-eroding confidence in the financial system.

Yet the plans met a negative reception with many criticising the lack of clarity in a joint statement from the US Treasury, Federal Reserve and banking regulators, which said a "capital buffer" would be made available for ailing banks.

It also stressed the programme would seek to avoid nationalisation, saying the lifeline being offered could lead to bigger government stakes but with a "strong presumption" that banks "remain in private hands."

The statement followed reports the previous day saying the US government was considering taking a 25-40 percent stake in Citigroup after the launch of the new aid programme Wednesday.

Analysts said the rescue plan triggered market confusion about the government's handling of the nationalisation debate.

Investors "are selling (shares and the greenback) without being clear whether they should be afraid of banks being nationalised or whether they want it," said Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. chief strategist Daisuke Uno.

Robert Eisenbeis, an economist at Cumberland Advisors, said the administration "has gotten itself trapped" in a debate on nationalisation even as it increases control of the sector.

"Once you have government ownership, it is hard to say that doesn't constitute a form of nationalisation," Eisenbeis said.

"Once the government money is in there, government can start to call the tune on policies, salaries. I think a lot of this debate is semantics."

Markets were also unsettled by reports that insurance giant American International Group -- which is owned 80 percent by the US government -- may seek more aid and report the biggest US corporate loss yet.

European markets were earlier hammered in the turmoil, with Frankfurt's DAX stock index hitting a four-year low, falling below 4,000 points for the first time since October 2004 after losses on Wall Street.

London's FTSE 100 index fell 0.99 percent while the CAC 40 was off 0.82 percent in Paris.

burs-dwa/bsk

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