London  -

Paris  - In the wake of share price plunges on stock markets around the world, the Paris Bourse opened sharply lower on Monday.

Frankfurt  - Stocks plunged in early trading in Germany on Monday, a day after the government and banks agreed to expand a bail-out for troubled property lender Hypo Real Estate
(HRE).

Frankfurt's blue chip DAX slumped 4.54 per cent to 5,533.57, its lowest level since July 2006.

All 30 companies on the index suffered losses, with financial institutions leading the way.

HRE was 48.3 per cent lower at 3.88 euros (5.27 dollars), Commerzbank was 14.8 per cent down at 12.08 euros and Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest, was off 6.2 per cent at 49.75 euros.

Seoul  - Shares nosedived Monday on the Seoul stock exchange, sending the benchmark Kospi Index down more than 4 per cent, as worries over the global financial crisis persist despite a US bailout plan.

The Kospi plunged 60.90 points, or 4.3 per cent, to close at 1,358.75.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 775 to 79.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 25.71 points to 406.39.

New Delhi  - India's benchmark Sensex stock index fell by 3.7 per cent in early trading Monday on weak Asian markets and a declining rupee.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which lost 529.35 points in the previous session, plunged another 459.6 points an hour and half after the markets opened.

It traded at 12,066.72 shortly before 11:30 am (0600 GMT), a loss of 3.67 per cent.

The situation was no different at the National Stock Exchange, where the broader S&P CNX Nifty traded at 3,678.40 for a loss of 3.66 per cent.