Manila - Philippine shares fell sharply by 4.15 per cent on Monday on fresh fears over the continuing financial woes in the United States.

The Philippines Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index plunged 109.96 points to close at 2,536.16 from Friday's finish of 2,646.12.

A total of 2.02 billion shares valued at 1.91 billion pesos (40.65 million dollars) were traded.

Losers swamped gainers 92 to 11, with 33 issues unchanged.

Taipei - Taiwan's stock market shed nearly 4 per cent Monday due to investors' fears that the US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc may declare bankruptcy.

In mid-morning trading, the TAIEX index fell 211.39 points, or 3.35 per cent, to 6,099.29 points.

New York - Crisis talks continued Saturday involving US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and top bankers amid ongoing fears about the future of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

US media reports said Paulson had categorically ruled out any any state aid for the bank, which is desperately looking for a potential buyer after its shares tumbled 94 per cent since the beginning of the year as the credit crisis ravaged the US financial sector.

Bank of America Corp was said to be the leading contender for a takeover, but British banks Barclays and HSBC were also seen as having a possible a role in a rescue.

New York  - US stocks made small gains on Friday, led by energy and metals companies, but were held down by ongoing fears about the future of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Hurricane Ike's anticipated arrival on the US mainland drove up petrol prices, helping refiners make strong gains.

The price of copper surged while gold ended a nine-day string of losses. Shares in metals giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc jumped more than 8 per cent.

Amman- Arab stocks plunged across the board this week amid sell-offs particularly by foreign funds that reflected receding investors' confidence and concerns resulting from falling oil prices, financial analysts said Friday.

"I believe dumping of stocks by foreign funds has created a negative sentiment at regional markets that prompted panic sell- offs," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman-based Sanabel International Holding, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Seoul - Share