Seoul - Shares surged 2.3 per cent Monday on the Seoul stock exchange after gains on other Asian markets.

The local currency also soared against the dollar after the South Korean government announced measures at the weekend to ease the liquidity crunch and prop up the troubled financial industry.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 26.96 points to close at 1,207.63.

Advancing issues outpaced decliners 405 to 402.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market rose 0.91 points to 353.09.

Sydney - Australian stocks start

Tokyo - Japan markets opened up Monday, largely over reports that company earnings may not be as bad as expected.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 72.64 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 8,766.46 at 9:36 am local time. The broader Topix index climbed 8.62, or 1 per cent, to 902.91.

Sony Corp advanced 2.3 per cent, while Panasonic Corp climed 6.6 per cent. Japan's biggest steelmakers - Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Holdings - were expected to boost annual earnings targets.

Washington - US stocks dropped on Friday, closing out a wild week that saw most major indices make strong gains amid uncertainty and recessionary fears among US investors.

US stocks had been up as much as 4 per cent earlier in the trading day but were struck with a late sell-off - a common trend during the ongoing financial crisis.

The Commerce Department reported that construction of single homes fell to a 26-year low in September, signalling the housing downturn at the heart of the financial turmoil has yet to reach bottom.

New York - Wall Street took another tumble on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average spiralling down by more than 700 points amid renewed worries the United States is already in the grip of a recession.

US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned that the emergency action taken by the Bush administration in response to the financial crisis is unlikely to produce a swift economic recovery.

"Stabilization of the financial markets is a critical first step, but even if they stabilize as we hope they will, broader economic recovery will not happen right away," Bernanke said to the Economic Club of New York.