Sao Paulo  - Trading was suspended Friday on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, after the leading index Bovespa plunged more than 10 per cent about an hour after opening.

The 10.1 per cent drop in share prices recorded at 10:35 am (1335 GMT) activated an automatic circuit breaker, triggered when stocks drop below a certain level and automatically suspending trading for half an hour.

On Friday morning, the Bovespa index - which had neared 74,000 in May - was on 33,308.08.

Karachi- Pakistan's main Karachi bourse on Friday reluctantly decided to unfreeze itself by October 27 only if the government fixes a cap on interest rates on loans taken by top brokers, sources said.

"The decision to unfreeze is only tentative. We are watching the government to see if it will inject money into the market and put a cap on interest rates," Akeel Karim Dhedhi, chairman of local giant AKD Securities told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Washington- US stocks dropped sharply within minutes of opening on Wall Street Friday, but rallied just as quickly amid widespread uncertainty over the state of the US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 600 points, briefly falling below 8,000 points, before paring nearly two-thirds of those losses. The blue-chip Dow was back to a less than

Amman - Arab stock markets, which witnessed a strong rally on Thursday, are expected to be vigilant next week with investors monitoring any developments on Wall Street and other global markets, financial analysts said Friday.

The rebound followed a bloody week that reportedly cost the Arab world about 180 billion dollars in losses.

Kiev - Ukraine's government on Friday ordered the stock market to stay closed, stopping shares trading by state instruction for the third time this week.

Management of the nation-leading PFTS stock exchange said it might allow shares trading later in the day, depending on the situation in both domestic and international markets.

The announcement came after a full day of trading on Thursday, during which stocks listed on the PFTS sank on average some 14 per cent in value.

The Ukrainian government halted trading on Wednesday and Monday as well in an a so-far unsuccessful attempt to slow panic sweeping the market, as Ukrainian shares have been dragged down by bad news in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Madrid - The Madrid stock market was dra