Paris - French shares shrugged off Wall Street's indecisiveness on Friday to end a volatile week on a positive note.

The Paris Bourse's CAC 40 blue-chip index finished Friday's session up 4.68 per cent, at 3,329.92, with advancing issues besting losers by 3 to 1.

Steel giant ArcelorMittal led the advance, gaining 10.57 per cent, to end the week at 22.22 euros. Energy supplier GDF Suez was also sought by investors, climbing by 
10.51 per cent, to 29.39 euros.

Frankfurt - A tumultuous trading week on global share markets drew to a close Friday, with European bourses defying renewed volatility on Wall Street and holding on to gains run up during the day.

After closing down 5 per cent on Thursday, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 index headed toward the end of the week up 3.8 per cent, at 2,219 points.

The close came despite the fact that Wall Street opened down as further data underscored the grim state of the US housing market, which is already in crisis.

London, Europe's leading stock market, headed into the end of week with a gain of about 2 per cent, while Paris's CAC 40 index edged up 0.91 per cent, following a 4.37-per-cent jump shortly after opening on Friday.

Riga - The three Baltic stock exchanges recorded two modest losses and a gain Friday, giving some respite after a largely negative week.

Amman- Arab stock markets fluctuated violently this week, reflecting turmoil on the world markets and lack of confidence that measures taken by the world's largest economies could succeed in handling the global financial crisis, financial analysts said Friday.

"We believe that the psychological impact of developments on world markets will continue to be felt in the Middle East bourses for some time to come," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman- based Sanabel International Holding told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"Fears of retreating results of listed firms in the third and fourth quarters due to recession fears are also expected to have negative impact on investors," he said.

New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex Friday plunged to two-year lows under 10,000 points, registering a fall of 5.73 per cent on heavy selling by funds and investors.

After opening on a strong note, the 30-share sensitive index closed the day's trade down 606.14 points to 9,975.35, a level last seen in June 2006.

The index had touched the day's low of 9,911.32 during the day and a high of 10,786.93.

All blue-chip stocks including Reliance Industries, DLF Limited, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India fell between 6 to 10 per cent. Realty and power stocks were the major contributors to the fall.

Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty index fell by 194.95 points, or 5.96 per cent, to 3,074.35.

Paris - French shares shrugged off Wall Street's weak opening and were holding on to modest gains in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday.