Washington - Congress wrestled Friday across party lines over a deeply unpopular financial industry rescue plan as majority Democrats insisted that Republicans get on board before holding a vote.

The White House pulled out all the stops, sending top officials to Capitol Hill, where negotiations continued over the controversial, 700-billion-dollar life raft for Wall Street.

Talks looked likely to continue over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"We'll be in as long as it takes, and we hope it doesn't take long, because the markets need a message from us," she told reporters Friday following another round of meetings on the bailout.

Washington  - US stocks were mixed Friday as investors awaited congressional approval of a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue plan.

The Standard & Poor's 500 broad-based index rose 4.09 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,213.27. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 121.07, or 1.1 per cent, to 1,1143.13. The high tech Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.23, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,183.34.

The S&P 500 was down 3.3 per cent on the week and the Dow slipped 2.2 per cent.

Amman - The US bailout plan is expected to have a "positive impact" on Middle East markets, which plummeted under the "psychological" fallout of the US financial crisis over the past few weeks, financial analysts said Friday.

"We believe the US rescue plan will have a positive impact not only on global markets but also on Middle East markets," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Sanabel International Holding told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

"The scheme will help evade the collapse of the world financial system. However, doubts will continue to be raised as to the effectiveness of the salvage blueprint," he said.

After opening on a weak note, the 30-share index Sensex continued its losing streak on the back of sustained selling action witnessed in realty, metal, banking and power stocks.

However, FMCG segment went up. 

Midcap and Smallcap index dropped 1.43% and 1.10% respectively.

Realty, banks and metals were hammered after the US Congress failed to come out with a decision on the USD 700 billion plan to bail-out its financial sector.

Sydney - The argy-bargy over the US government's planned rescue package for financial institutions erased recent gains by Australian stocks Friday.

The ASX 200 had fallen 87 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 4,839 by mid-afternoon.

Prices were dragged down in thin trading as investors waited for US politicians to thrash out the terms of the bailout package worth up to 700 billion US dollars.

Indian stock markets opened on a dull note today (Sep 26), and continued to slip further because of massive selling by funds, sparked by failing trends in other Asian markets.

For the week ended September 13, the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation remained unchanged at 12.14%. However, inflationary figures during the same period of the last year were significantly lower at 3.51%.