Paris - French shares were holding on to gains in early trading Monday but banking and environmental stocks were losing ground.

The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 blue-chip index was up 1.12 per cent, to 3,367.25, at mid-morning, with advancing issues outpacing fallers by 3 to 1.

The winners were led by three energy stocks, with energy suppliers GDF Suez and EDF up by 7.32 and 5.4 per cent, respectively, and oil giant Total gaining 5.28 per cent, on rising oil prices.

Veolia Environnement was down more than 16 per cent and Suez Environnment had lost 10 per cent because the finance crisis and imminent recession were dissuading European countries from undertaking planned ecological measures.

Mumbai, Oct 20: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) recovered more than four percent in early deals today after a sharp sell-off in the previous session.

At 12:15 p. m., the 30-share of BSE index was up by 4.51 percent at 10,425.53.

The BSE Sensex is seen opening higher today after a sharp sell-off plummeting to lowest close since mid-2006. However the recovery may not hold as fears of a global recession continue to haunt investors.

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.