Amsterdam - The main index at the Amsterdam stock exchange AEX gained slightly (up 1.44 per cent) Wednesday morning. By 10:19 am (0819 GMT) the index stood at 336.21.

Insurer and bank giant Fortis, 49 per cent of which was nationalized on Sunday by the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, gained 7.95 per cent, followed by ING Group bank, which was up 4.49 per cent.

By contrast, insurer Aegon, the third biggest financial fund on the AEX, dropped 1.81 per cent.

As the markets opened earlier on Wednesday, the AEX had initially dropped to 331.69. (dpa)