Tokyo - Stocks in Tokyo continued their downward course on Friday, with the Nikkei plunging below the psychologically significant mark of 9,000 points, for the first time in more than five years.

Minutes after trading started, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 279.20 points, or 3.05 per cent, to 8,878.29.

This was a reaction to US stocks plummeting again on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping below 9,000 points for the first time in five years, as a series of US and global efforts to tackle the financial crisis have failed to calm investors.

New York - US stocks plummeted again on Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped below 9,000 points as a series of US and global efforts to tackle the financial crisis have failed to calm the widespread fears of investors.

Both the blue-chip Dow and broader Standard & Poor's 500 tumbled more than 7 per cent. The Dow has now lost more than 35 per cent of its value since reaching all-time highs above 14,000 one year ago. The S&P's seven straight days of losses mark the longest downward streak since 1996.

Vienna - The Vienna Stock Exchange won anti-trust regulators' approval to take over Slovenia's main bourse, the Austrian operator said Thursday.

Wiener Boerse agreed in June to buy an 81.01-per-cent stake in the stock exchange of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, beating an offer from Greek Hellenic Exchanges.

Slovenian anti-trust authorities have now cleared the deal, the Vienna exchange said in a statement.

Hanoi  - Vietnam's stock market fell slightly Thursday as local traders sold on declines in global markets, securities experts said.

The VN-Index closed down 3.65 points, or 0.91 per cent, at 397.7, the lowest level in three months.

Market volume, however, rose to 20.6 million shares, valued at 25 million dollars, up from 14.3 million shares and 4.5 million dollars on Wednesday.

Some analysts said the volume reflected the potential for a bounce in the next few days.

Singapore - Singapore shares jumped 3.4 per cent Thursday after central banks around the globe, including four in Asia, cut interest rates in a coordinated push to curb the impact of the global financial crisis.

Traders said they were not expecting the rebound to last, pointing out that the banking crisis would not immediately go away.

The Straits Times Index rose 69.1 points to close at 2102.71 as the shares of 278 companies declined and 250 gained.

London - The London stock market rebounded in early trading Thursday, which saw the Financial Times Share Index rise by 3 per cent while banking shares were up again sharply.

The recovery was led by banks expected to tap the government for new capital pledged in a 50-billion-pound (87-billion-dollar) package Wednesday, and boosted by gains on Far Eastern markets as well as the global interest rate cuts.

Shares in Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) were up nearly 30 per cent Thursday, while Royal Bank of Scotland shares rose by 16 per cent.