Jakarta - Indonesia's stock exchange resumed trading on Monday following a three-day halt after the bourse cut the limit on stock-price movements and the government eased buyback rules to help revive investor confidence.

The Indonesia Stock Exchange said its benchmark composite index fell 85.43 points, or 5.88 per cent, to 1,366.24 about an hour after it reopened. The IDX opens its morning session at 9:30 am (0230 GMT).

Taipei - Taiwan stocks plunged more than 3 per cent Monday despite government measures to stabilize the stock market amid global jitters.

Two hours into trading, the TAIEX index had fallen 156.22 points, or 3.04 per cent, to 4,974.71.

The plunge occurred despite the Taiwan government's announcement of three measures to shore up the stock market.

Wellington - The New Zealand stock market - the first to open in the world every day - rose slightly Monday morning after opening down in nervous early trading.

The benchmark NZX 50 index, which slumped 4.7 per cent to 2,805.31 on Friday, started the day down 0.74 per cent but reversed early losses by noon to be up 1.15 per cent at 2,837 and rising.

Sydney - Australian stocks rallied at the bell on Monday after a horror trading session at the end of last week saw them slip to a five-year low.

In early trading, the ASX 200 gained 221 points, or 5.5 per cent, to 4,182 to break the 4,000 barrier.

Commsec economist Craig James said bargain hunting would buoy the market following Friday's 8.3-per-cent crash, the biggest drop since 1987.

The 30 share index, Sensex lost 1,998.47 points during in the week ended Oct 10, while the broad based NSE Nifty plunged 538.35 points in the same period.

Mid-cap stocks dropped 1,001.8 points to 3,676 in the week. On the other hand, small-cap shares slipped 1,109.95 points to 4,355.45 during the week.

The markets, all through the week, remained under huge pressure because of turmoil in worldwide markets. 

For the month of August 2008, India’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) index decline to 1.3% as against 7.1% on m-o-m basis. 

The US stocks continued to fall on a sixth consecutive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 189.01 points (2.00 percent) and closed at 9,258.10. The Dow Jones has witnessed a downfall of 30 percent so far. The shares of Bank of America dropped to 7 percent after selling shares at a discount. The largest US aluminum producer, Alcoa also witnessed a decline of 12 percent in its stocks.