Kiev - Ukraine's government on Wednesday ordered the country's leading PFTS stock exchange to stay closed throughout the day, the Interfax news agency reported.

The decision came after the market hit a record low on Tuesday, and was widely predicted to continue a plunge of as much as 12 per cent a day, observers said.

The PFTS lost 11 per cent overall value on Tuesday, with banks plummeting between 22 to 26 per cent, and metals producers slumping 13 to 16 per cent, the Dragon Capitol trading house reported.

Ukraine's government has been locked in a constitutional crisis for more than two months and has struggled to take steps to control economic damage from recent drops in foreign shares exchanges.

Beijing - Shares on China's two stock markets plunged by 3 per cent on Wednesday as financial firms led a third straight daily fall following last week's global market losses.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, ended down 65.61 points, or 3.04 per cent, at 2,092.22.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index also lost more than 3 per cent as both markets fell for the third consecutive day of trading since a seven-day National Day holiday ended Sunday.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares slumped by more than 8 per cent Wednesday as economic woes deepened despite a cut in interest rates intended to boost liquidity in the city's money markets.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1,372.03 points or 8.17 per cent, crashing through the 16,000 points barrier within minutes of the market opening and ending the day at 15,431.73 points. Turnover was
77.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (10 billion US dollars).

The blue-chip index has fallen at an unprecedented rate in recent weeks and has now shed 50 per cent of its value since it peaked at just below 32,000 points in October 2007.

Moscow  - The MICEX index, Moscow's leading stock exchange, shut down until Friday while trading on the RTS was suspended indefinitely after shares plummeted at opening on Wednesday.

The MICEX's headlong dive, dropping more than 14 per cent in the first half-hour of trading, compounded record losses in the last two days as Russia faces its worst financial crisis since the national default of 1998.

Trading on the MICEX, where most of Russia's stocks are traded, was suspended by market watchdogs at 11:05 am (0805 GMT) for two- days.

London - Banking stocks rallied on the London stock market Wednesday following the announcement by the government of a massive bail-out for the banking sector.

Shares in Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) jumped by 27 per cent in early trading, after a slump of more than 40 per cent Tuesday.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) saw its share price rise by 12 per cent after losses of 39 per cent during turbulent trading Tuesday.