Berlin - Germany hardened its stance Friday in a dispute with the European Union and Porsche about state influence over Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen.

German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries said Germany would keep legislation that grants the state of Lower Saxony veto powers at VW, despite this week's proclamation by Porsche that it has an effective majority of VW.

"There is no reason completely to abolish the Volkwagen Law. The EU Commission should accept that," Zypries told members of the Bundesrat upper chamber in Berlin, referring to a threat by the European Commission to fine Germany.

Paris - Inspired by Wall Street's strong Thurs

Beijing - China's main stock market jumped by 9 per cent on Friday, following the announcement of government measures to bolster share prices and earlier gains on Wall Street.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in local and foreign currencies, shot up by 9.46 per cent, or 179.25 points, to end the day at 2,075.09.

The Shanghai index gained 9 per cent immediately after opening, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index had also soared by 9 per cent at the close of trading on Friday.

Moscow - Russia's stock two leading stock exchanges jumped Friday minutes after reopening following a two-day suspension of trading to stop the nation's worst financial crisis sice the 1998 default.

The dollar-denominated RTS climbed 11 per cent in the start of trading while the ruble-denominated ruble-denominated MICEX soared 14.4 per cent causing market authorities to again suspend trading for an hour from 11:05 Moscow time (0705 GMT).

Stockholm/Oslo - Bourses in the Nordic region surged Friday in morning trading on the news of a US government bailout plan to the battered finance and banking sector and a massive cash injection by leading central banks.

The Stockholm bourse index opened up over 5 per cent with banking shares posting double-digit increases.

Telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson increased 5 per cent while clothes retailer Hennes and Mauritz was up 4 per cent.

The main Oslo index surged 6 per cent in opening trading with strong performances from banking sector shares.

Shares in Norway's largest financial services group DnB NOR increased 11 per cent while financial services group Storebrand was up roughly 8 per cent.

London - Bank shares rallied in early trading on London's stock market Friday as new restrictions on speculative trading came into force.

The Financial Times Index (FTSE-100) was up by more than 6 per cent after the Financial Services Authority banned so-called short-selling, a practice in which traders look to profit from falling share prices.

As markets opened, the FTSE-100 index was up 240.7 points, taking it above the crucial 5000-point mark to 5120.7 points.

The temporary ban, to last until January, came into effect at midnight Thursday.