London - Bank shares rallied in early trading on London's stock market Friday as new restrictions on speculative trading came into force.

The Financial Times Index (FTSE-100) was up by more than 6 per cent after the Financial Services Authority banned so-called short-selling, a practice in which traders look to profit from falling share prices.

As markets opened, the FTSE-100 index was up 240.7 points, taking it above the crucial 5000-point mark to 5120.7 points.

The temporary ban, to last until January, came into effect at midnight Thursday.

Seoul - Ending this week's roller coaster ride on a high note, shares surged 4.5 per cent Friday on the Seoul stock exchange following overnight gains on Wall Street and signs that US authorities might take new measures to help the troubled financial sector.

The benchmark Kospi index soared 63.36 points, or 4.6 per cent, to close at 1,455.78.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 707 to 135.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market gained 12.70 points to close at 446.46.

Frankfurt - German stocks rebounded strongly at the start of trading Friday, with investors encouraged by Washington's promise to fix the financial system.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex, which opened with a gain of 448.23 points, at 13,763.83 today, has moved further up north on account of heavy buying action witnessed across realty, IT, banking, oil & gas and power stocks. 

Midcap and Smallcap index gained more than 2% each. 

Among the sectoral indices, Realty was the major gainer, which climbed 7.45% followed by IT (6%), Bankex (5.14%), Oil & Gas (3.73%) and Power (3.41%).  

At 12.54 p.m., Sensex gained 608.14 points at 13,923.74. It also hit a high of 13,960.58 and a low of 13,674.96. 

New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex stock index gained 3.69 per cent in early trading Friday on US government plans for a mammoth bailout to contain its financial crisis.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which had been losing ground for most of the week because of the US crisis, gained 491 points soon after the markets opened. It was quoted at 13,787.11 at 11:30 local time (0600 GMT).

Similarly, the broader National Stock Exchange's Nifty index rose 2.9 per cent to 4,155.15 at the same time as all industrial sectors, led by blue-chip stocks, recorded handsome gains.

Washington - A mammoth bailout by the US government to contain the ongoing financial crisis could cost as much as half a trillion dollars, media reports said Friday.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefed congressional leaders on comprehensive measures late Thursday, in what could become the largest-ever intervention in US financial markets. The new move represents a broader approach to dealing with the crisis, as opposed to the ad hoc and stop-gap measures taken since the beginning of this year.