Kiev- Ukraine's leading PFTS stock exchange plummeted on Tuesday, with some shares losing 9 per cent in minutes after opening and the government considering another halt to trading of some firms.

Stock in the massive Azovstal steel company dropped 9.15 per cent in value shortly after trading began, and "practically all" of Ukraine's other major metals manufacturers were early big losers, the Interfax news agency reported.

London  - A short-lived rally on the London stock market evaporated Tuesday after big falls in bank shares pulled down the Financial Times Index wiping out an initial rise of 2.6 per cent.

Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at one point slumped by 40 per cent, following reports that it was among three leading British banks that asked the government for a possible capital injection.

The request by RBS, Lloyds TSB and Barclays was reported to have been made during a meeting of their chief executives with Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, late Monday.

The government is believed to be working on a bank stabilization scheme that could be announced later this week.

Amsterdam  - The main index on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the AEX, on Tuesday posted a slight loss - down 0.54 per cent - at 11:30 am (0930 GMT), remaining volatile throughout the morning.

Opening with a gain of 2.4 per cent, the index slipped to a low of 306.78 points at 10:30 am, to recover slightly one hour later.

Bank and insurance company ING Group led the list of companies losing out most (down 5.78 per cent).

Trade in former Belgian-Dutch bank and insurance giant Fortis, that was taken over by the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and French bank BNP Paribas, remained suspended Tuesday.

Paris - One day after suffering the largest single-day loss in its 21-year-history, the Paris Bourse's benchmark CAC 40 was trying to rebound in early trading on Tuesday.

One hour after opening, the CAC 40 was up 1.64 per cent, to 3,773, with advancing issues outpacing losers by 3 to 1.

French-Belgian financial services group Dexia again led the declining issues, down more than 5 per cent, at 6.46 euros (8.75 dollars).

London - Trading on the London Stock Exchange recovered after Monday's slump as the Financial Times Index was up by more than 2.5 per cent in early trading, reports said.

The FTSE 100 Index rose by 2.6 per cent, or 122 points, to 4,711.48 during the first hour of trading, following Monday's dramatic 8-per-cent slump which represented the largest one-day percentage decline since 1987.

However, shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were down by 20 per cent, adding to a dramatic cut in early FTSE gains and underlining the continuing volatility of the market, analysts said.

Frankfurt - German stocks recovered some of their losses in early trading in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

The blue chip DAX climbed 1.63 per cent to 5,475 after losing 7.07 per cent on Monday.

Among the winners was troubled property lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), which is subject of a 50-billion-euro (68-billion-dollar) bail-out after running into liquidity problems.

HRE saw its shares rise 14.3 per cent to 5.35 euros. On Monday, the bank group saw its share price slashed by 37.42 per cent.