Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel revived on Saturday Germany's campaign of a year ago for global regulation of financial markets to prevent another crash like the past week's.

In an interview with a Munich newspaper, the Muenchner Merkur, she criticized the US and British governments for obstructing Germany's efforts in the first half of 2007 to bring greater transparency to the markets.

The domestic benchmark indices surged over 5% on Friday (Sep 19) as foreign institutional investors (FIIS) turned net buyers after a week of huge selling pressure, tracking reaction in the worldwide markets that saw a complete turnaround from the previous day.

Brokers said that the majority of buying was seen in the index stocks.

The BSE Sensex, which opened positively at 13,763.83, up 448.23 points, on encouraging global cues, remained strong all through the day.

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex ended the week on a cheerful note on Friday (Sep 19). It crossed the 14,000 mark on the back of sustained buying interest witnessed across the board. 

Realty, IT, power and banking stocks led the rally. Midcap and smallcap stocks also rose all through the day. 

The bulls showed their intent during the second half after the finance minister P Chidambaram stated that Indian banking institutions were greatly insulated from the outcomes of global turmoil and that there was no cause for any alarm.

The wholesale price index (inflation) that climbed up to 12.14 percent, as compared to 12.10 percent during the last week, failed to depress the market reaction.

Washington - As Wall Street tottered on the brink of collapse and the US government unveiled one the largest market interventions in its history, stakeholders from every side weighed in with incredibly stark views of the country's economic future.

The assessments did not just focus on the country's short-term economic health. Many believe this week's events could drastically change the way the United States does business.

"Capitalism as we knew it - free-market capitalism - seems to be dead," declared Rob Cox, editor of financial website breakingviews. com.

New York - Stocks finished their week-long roller coaster ride on the US financial crisis just about where they started, with the three major US indices Friday making a second day of huge rebounds.

Stock indices careened up and down through the week by as much as 4 per cent a day over a major bankruptcy and bank merger and as the US government bailed out the insurance giant American International Group Inc.

The interconnected world's markets rode along for the wild ride.

Amman - Arab stock markets tumbled this week in response to the collapse of the US Lehman Brothers bank, and financial analysts said Friday they did not exclude further repercussions on regional markets.

"The direction of markets is unclear," Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"Arab markets reacted violently to latest developments in the United States, an indication that there are investors who work in the two regions," he said.