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.
Seoul - Shares were up slightly Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange after recent losses, on hopes that exporting companies could benefit from the steep decline of the local currency, as the won continued its freefall against the dollar, closing at its lowest level in more than six years.
The benchmark Kospi index rose 7.35 points, or 0.5 per cent, to close at 1,366.10. Advancing issues outpaced decliners 526 to 281.
The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market slipped 4.44 points to 401.95.
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.
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.
Frankfurt - German stocks recovered some of their losses in early trading in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
Shares were up slightly Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange after recent losses, on hopes that exporting companies could benefit from the steep decline of the local currency, as the won continued its freefall against the dollar, closing at its lowest level in more than six years.
