Citigroup said it sold $4.5 billion of common stock on Wednesday, more than it expected to sell yesterday, citing strong investor demand as it seeks to stabilize its finances.

The New York-based bank offered 178 million shares of common stock priced at $25.27 per share, the company said in a statement. Yesterday the bank said it would be raising $3 billion in capital through a share offering.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, has now raised more than $40 billion worth of capital since the housing and credit market crisis began last summer as it looks to offset heavy losses linked to failed home loans.

Shares of Citigroup fell 90 cents, or 3.42 percent to $25.42 in late morning trading in New York.

Other leading banks around the world have issued similar stock offerings as part of global bank push to restore profitability.

In a statement today the bank said it could sell an additional 17.8 million shares to meet investor requests.

The offering will raise the level of Tier 1 Capital ratio at the bank to about 8.6 percent. The Tier 1 capital ratio is a measure indicating how well a bank can withstand losses. U.S. regulators consider a bank with a Tier 1 ratio of at least 6 percent to be well-capitalized.

We were pleased to increase the offering size to $4.5 billion in response to strong demand from a broad base of investors, said Gary Crittenden, Chief Financial Officer, Citigroup. This optimizes our capital structure and further strengthens our balance sheet.

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