Paris - The day after Wall Street posted its worst loss since 2001, French shares were down only moderately on Tuesday, with bank stocks again leading the losers.

One hour after the opening of the Paris Bourse, shares in its benchmark CAC 40 were down 1.39 per cent, to stand at 4,111.06.

Belgian bank Dexia, which owns 500 million euros (709 million dollars) in unsecured bonds of the bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers, led the way down, losing nearly 5 per cent of its value.

Berlin - German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck called for calm Tuesday, although he acknowledged a "very difficult and serious situation" on world financial markets.

Germany's DAX index of the leading 30 shares declined 1.6 per cent on opening to fall to 5,970, following Asian markets into negative territory.

Speaking ahead of the start of the 2009 budget debates in the German lower house of parliament, Steinbrueck insisted the effects of the financial crisis on the German real economy would be "limited."

London - Britain's Barclays bank is in talks to buy up some parts of the collapsed Lehman Brothers empire, the bank said Tuesday.

Seoul - Shares nosedived Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange, sending the benchmark Kospi Index down more than 6 per cent, as the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank in the US caused panic among inve

Mumbai, Sept 16: Shares of top outsourcing firms, which earn a key part of their revenues from the U. S. banking and financial services sector, continued to fall sharply on Tuesday.

Nifty, the benchmark of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), fell by 102 points to 3970.80, a slump of 2.51 per cent. And the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex slumped to 13,058 from Monday’s close, shedding 472.81 points.

Taipei - Taiwan's stockmarket tumbled 4.89 per cent on Tuesday, falling below the key 6,000 level for the first time since November 2005, amid a sharply bearish sentiment brought on by US financial woes, dealers said.

The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange opened down 5.03 per cent and continued to tumble until after the government stepped in to ease the sliding trend. In the end, the local index lost 295.86 points or 4.89 per cent to close at 5,756.59, dealers said.