Washington  - US stocks plunged and the Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled the most on Monday since the 1987 crash after the US House of Representatives rejected the biggest government intervention into capital markets since the Great Depression.

The hotly debated 700-billion-dollar rescue plan, which was intended to thaw out the frozen credit flow, failed in a 228-205 vote in the House. US President George W Bush has warned the country faces a long and painful recession without the plan.

Sao Paulo  - For the first time in close to a decade, the Brazilian stock exchange in Sao Paulo had to suspend its activities for half an hour Monday, after its Bovespa index crashed 10.6 per cent.

The drop happened at 2:49 pm (1749 GMT), following news of the apparent rejection by the US House of Representatives of the 700- billion- dollar bailout plan devised by the White House for the US economy.

Trading resumed, but could be closed down again , most likely for an hour, if the slide reaches 15 per cent.

Washington  - US stocks plunged more than 5 per cent Monday after the US House of Representatives rejected a hotly debated 700- billion-dollar rescue plan for the US financial system.

Stocks were already sliding on the news of the collapse of the country's fourth-largest bank, Wachovia Corp, and banking giant Citigroup's intervention to buy up the bulk of its operations.

But investor uncertainty increased after the early afternoon vote in the House, which voted 228-205 against the bill. Republicans led the opposition, voting by 2-1.

Vienna  - Austria's lead stock index ATX dropped by 8.05 per cent Monday amid the global financial turmoil, the second biggest one-day drop in the history of the Vienna stock exchange.

Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG lost 13.64 per cent. Traders told Austrian news agency APA that investors sought to reduce positions associated with risks, such as Raiffeisen's involvement in Russia.

Mumbai, Sept 29 : Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) provisionally fell 3.87 per cent on Monday as a spreading global financial crisis kept investors nervous, with top private sector lender ICICI Bank leading the losses.

During the day''s trading BSE was down more than five per cent, hitting its lowest in one and a half years.

The 30-share index provisionally closed 472.58 points down at 12,629.60, with all but three of its components falling.

The 50-issue National Stock Exchange (NSE) index provisionally lost 2.9 per cent to 3,869.65.

Hanoi - The Vietnamese stock market fell slightly Monday as local traders worried that new companies listing next month will dilute share prices and that new foreign investment will not be forthcoming. 

Despite news that the US government and congress had agreed on a bail-out plan for holders of mortgage-backed securities, the VN-Index ended Friday down 0.9 per cent, closing at 479. 

Market volume totaled 18.9 million shares, valued at 742 billion dong (46 million dollars).