Sydney  - Australia's securities regulator Friday joined its counterparts in the United States and Britain in curbing the short-selling of shares that has contributed to the tumult on stock markets.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) ruled that from Monday a temporary ban on what's called naked short-selling would take effect.

In naked short-selling, traders sell shares they don't actually own in the hope of buying them later at a cheaper price. ASIC said it was concerned some individuals were spreading false and misleading information about listed companies to provoke fire sales of securities at low prices.

Hanoi  - The Vietnamese stock market rebounded sharply Friday following Thursday's rebound in the US stock market.

The volatile VN-Index ended up 4.7 per cent, to close at 439.06.

Market volume totaled 25.5 million shares, valued at 850 billion dong (51 million dollars), up from 457 billion dong (27 million dollars) on Thursday.

Phan Hong Quan, director of Eurocapital Securities company, credited the rebound of the US and regional stock markets.

The Vietnamese market had fallen in nine of the last ten sessions on US worries, losing 21 per cent of its value, and investors felt it could not fall much further.

Jakarta - Indonesia's stock market rose by more than 5 per cent Friday, sparked by regional rebounds following overnight gains on Wall Street and signs that US authorities might take new measures

Berlin - Germany hardened its stance Friday in a dispute with the European Union and Porsche about state influence over Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen.

German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said Germany would keep legislation that grants the state of Lower Saxony veto powers at VW, despite this week's proclamation by Porsche that it has an effective majority of VW.

"There is no reason completely to abolish the Volkwagen Law. The EU Commission should accept that," Zypries told members of the Bundesrat upper chamber in Berlin, referring to a threat by the European Commission to fine Germany.

Paris - Inspired by Wall Street's strong Thurs

Beijing - China's main stock market jumped by 9 per cent on Friday, following the announcement of government measures to bolster share prices and earlier gains on Wall Street.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, shot up by 9.46 per cent, or 179.25 points, to end the day at 2,075.09.

The Shanghai index gained 9 per cent immediately after opening, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index had also soared by 9 per cent at the close of trading on Friday.