New York - Major US stock indices rose Friday on the back of some better-than-expected economic data, giving investors hope that a nationwide slowdown in growth may be slowly coming to an end.

The Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders rose 0.8 per cent in June, marking the first consecutive monthly rise since July of last year. Economists had expected a 0.3-per-cent decline.

Sydney - Australian shares tumbled Friday after losses on Wall Street and an announcement by National Australia Bank that it was increasing provision for debts linked to mortgage-backed securities in the United States.

The ASX 200 lost 3.3 per cent, falling 173 points to 4,970.

National Australia Bank shares fell 14 per cent and dragged down other financial stocks. ANZ plunged 9 per cent, Commonwealth Bank 6 per cent and Westpac 5 per cent.

National Australia Bank chief executive John Stewart said it was best to plan for the worst.

New Delhi - Indian stocks tumbled in morning trading on Friday as the benchmark Sensex shed 3 per cent on heavy selling by funds and investors tracking weak global markets.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which lost 165.27 points in the trading on Thursday, extended losses for another day as it slumped by 446.84 points to 14,330.17, a loss of 3.02 per cent in early trade.

The bourse recovered slightly and was trading at 14,350 at noon.

Tokyo (dpa) - Tokyo stocks opened lower Friday as investors locked in profits from the previous day's gains.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 209.5 points, or 1.54 per cent, to 13,393.81.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also down 26.62 points, or 2 per cent, to 1,305.95.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 107.28-33 yen, down from Thursday's 5 pm quote of 107.82-84 yen.

New York - Major US stock indices plunged Thursday as monthly housing sales dropped to their lowest level in 10 years and a major investor predicted a 
1-trillion-dollar loss for the financial industry before the end of the mortgage crisis.

Sales of previously owned homes dropped 2.6 per cent from May to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 4.86 million units in June, more than 15 per cent below June 
2007, the National Association of Realtors said.

New Delhi, July 24 : Inflation rate dipped to 11.89-per cent for the week ended July 12. The inflation has softened somewhat with prices of many essential items either declining or remaining static.

The figure for the week ended July 12 is quite in line with the rate of inflation for the week ended July 5, that stood at 11.91 per cent, very marginally higher than the rate of
11.89 per cent reported a fortnight ago.