Seoul with a rise of 2.8 per cent was the top gainer among regional markets, which waited for the outcome of a meeting on Tuesday of the Federal Reserve's policy-making panel that was to chart the course of interest rates. Hong Kong advanced 2.4 per cent, Singapore gained 1.4 per cent, Australian stocks rose 0.7 per cent, and Manila and Jakarta posted modest rises. Elsewhere in the region, Tokyo fell 0.9 per cent and Bangkok and Taipei also ended in negative territory.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 10,000-point mark for the first time in its history, gaining 184.54 points, or 1.9 per cent, to end the day at 10,006.78 points.

Sentiment on Asian bourses was cautious as investors braced for a possible correction in the Dow and the Federal Open Market Committee meeting tostudy signals on the direction of US interest rates.

In Hong Kong, share prices rose on the back of the record-high overnight close on Wall Street and hopeful signs on China's bid to enter the WTO, dealers said.

Howard Gorges, vice President of South China Brokerage, said the Dow Jones index's first close above the 10,000-point level had provided momentum to the Hang Seng index. Gorges said the index gained additional impetus from positive signs on Sino-US talks to enter the World Trade Organisation.US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Tuesday in Beijing for talks on China's 13-year bid to join the World Trade Organisation.

"I am cautiously optimistic. There is a window open before Premier Zhu's visit to Washington (early in April) to get a deal," US Commerce Secretary William Daley, also in Beijing, said Tuesday. The key Hang Seng index gained 251.74 points to close at 10,940.21.

Tokyo: Tokyo's key stock index fell 0.9 per cent as investors took profits inlate trading after buying actively to follow up on sharp gains in New York, brokers said.

"Share prices gained in the morning following the rally on Wall Street but investors turned to selling in the afternoon to lock profits," said Yukio Takahashi, deputy director of equity information at Wako Securitites Co."Institutional investors could not make moves as they prepared to close annual accounts at the end of March," he said. "Foreign investors failed to keep up the momentum after actively buying at the outset of trading."The Nikkei average of 225 leading issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 149.72 points to end at 15,859.12 for the second straight daily loss. But the Topix index of all issues on the first section was up 0.57 points at 1,269.24.

Singapore: Singapore's benchmark stock index ended 1.4 per cent higher following Wall Street's historic close above the 10,000-point mark, dealers said. The Straits Times Index ended 20.58 points higher at 1,518.08 while the broader All-Singapore Index climbed4.03 points to 406.21.

Dealers said banking and property stocks enjoyed good buying while interest in selected electronics stocks was seen amid continuing growth in industrial output, which rose 4.0 per cent year-on-year in February.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian share prices ended 0.3 per cent lower as investors remained sidelined ahead of the release of the central bank's annual report. "There has been no news and investors are staying away in droves. They expect some lead to emerge from Bank Negara's report on Wednesday. But it is still very uncertain if there will be any," an institutional dealer said.The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's weighted composite index fell 1.59 points to finish at 498.57 while the lesser second board index lost 0.10 points, or 0.1 per cent, to end at 111.26 points.

Bangkok: Thai shares slipped 1.0 per cent at the close despite the government's announcement of a multi-billion-dollar stimulus package to help the flagging economy, analysts said. Analysts said the spending and tax-cutplan was widely expected and investors decided to take some short-term profits after recent rises.

"So far the market has been dominated by short-term speculators who sold immediately on their morning gains when they saw a chance to take profits with nothing new or bad in the package once it was made official," one analyst said.

"People may not want to spend more if they are not sure when and if the economy will recover," he said. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index fell 3.56 points to close at 359.76 while the SET 50 selected index shed 0.29 points to 26.49.

Jakarta: Indonesian share prices closed slightly higher in lacklustre trading on gains in select big caps led by cigarette counters, dealers said. Bakrie Securities dealer Denny Riyadi said the general market trend showed no improvement although there was some positive news that should have encouraged buying sentiment.

He said overnight gains on Wall Street combined with the rescheduling of Indonesian interbank debt as well assome corporate results should have given the market a boost.

"But it looks like people are already in holiday mood ... They don't want to take any new position this week," he said. The composite index closed up 0.763 points at 393.625.