Frankfurt  - German bank Commerzbank affirmed Thursday its plans to take over Dresdner Bank, rejecting speculation that earlier hit the Commerzbank share price.

Insurance group Allianz, the current owner of Dresdner, also said the deal was still intact.

"There has been no change to the plan," an Allianz spokeswoman told the dpa-AFX financial news wire in Germany. A Commerzbank spokesman said the merger would proceed "as planned."

Allianz stock was trading at 92.35 euros, down 2.4 per cent, just after noon on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Commerzbank bounced back from the morning speculation, trading at 14.17 euros, up 5.1 per cent.

Bangkok  - The Thai stock market staged a sudden rebound Thursday after falling 5.08 per cent by the midday break, apparently inspired by a similar resurgence on the Hong Kong market.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index was at 574.42 points when trading ended for the midday break, or 5.08 per cent, but it ended the day at 600.38, down 4.76 points or 0.8 per cent.

"Everyone is confused about what happened," said Mongkol Phuangphaetha, a stock analyst at Adkinsons Securities. "Brokers were advising people to sell all morning and then suddenly Hong Kong staged a rebound and local investors followed their lead."

Taipei - Taiwan stocks plunged 2.73 per cent Thursday amid heavy
selling triggered by US financial turmoil and Wall Street's sharp fall
overnight, dealers said.

The Weighted Price Index of Taiwan Stock Exchange opened down 4.19
per cent as jittery investors dumped their holdings, but government
funds soon moved in to buy heavily to ease the sliding trend, allowing
the index to close at 5,641.95 points, down 158.92 points, or 2.73 per
cent, dealers said.

In mid-morning amid heavy sell-offs, Finance Minister Lee Sush-der

Seoul - Shares fell more than 2 p

Paris - Buoyed by the intervention of major central banks in foreign exchange markets, French shares on Thursday were resisting the downward pull created by Wednesday's Wall Street sell-off.

One hour after opening, the Paris Bourse's benchmark CAC 40 was up 0.19 per cent, at 4,007.60. Shortly after trading began, the CAC 40 sank to its lowest level in three years before recovering.

The resistance was led by Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, which gained 5 per cent to 8.64 euros. French bank BNP Paribas was up 2.16 per cent, at 57.40 euros.

Moscow - Russia's two leading stock exchanges remained mostly shut for the third day Thursday as stocks took their worst dive since the 1998 financial crisis.

The dollar-denominated RTS is still waiting for permission from the Federal Financial Markets Service to resume trading, the market's press office said.

A spokesman said it was unclear whether the index would open Thursday.