Citigroup's (C: sentiment, chart, options) South Korean unit will get a fresh capital boost from its parent company, with Yonhap Infomax reporting that the Dow component will inject $400 million to $500 million into the bank. Regulators in the country have been urging banks to boost their capital ratios in order to facilitate lending, and Citibank Korea's 9.5% reading ranks among the lowest of South Korea's 7 major banks.

"We have a plan to replenish capital. Details will be announced early next week," an anonymous source told Reuters. Citi was recently seen selling dollars in the South Korean forex market in order to fund the capital injection.

In early trading, C is fractionally higher at $6.85. A glut of call open interest lies overhead at the January 2009 7.50 strike, which hosts 118,830 contracts. Unless the stock can hurdle above this potential barrier during the next couple of weeks, this accumulation of bullish bets could exert options-related resistance as expiration draws closer.