Frankfurt - Share prices tumbled in early trading in Europe on Monday as markets reacted to the financial turmoil triggered by the demise of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Germany's blue-chip DAX fell 2.8 per cent, while the Paris bourse lost nearly 3.5 per cent and the London Stock Exchange was down more than 2 per cent. In nearly all cases banking shares were hardest hit.

Traders in Frankfurt said there was no panic on the German market, noting that the 30-share DAX recovered slightly to 6,059 after slumping to 6,050 at the opening.

Vienna  - Shares traded on the Vienna stock exchange fell by 3.9 per cent in the first hour of trading Monday, following the news that the US investment bank Lehman Brothers was bankrupt.

Sydney - Australian shares tumbl

Mumbai, Sept 15 : The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex fell by 772.62 points this morning following the U. S. investment bank Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also dipped below 4,000-mark by falling 242.40 points after banking stocks led by ICICI and HDFC Bank slipped sharply.

Realty stocks are among the worst hit. The Realty index has gone down by over 7 per cent. IT and power stocks have also plunged sharply by 5.25 per cent to 6 per cent.

London - Britain's Barclays bank, which had been among potential bidders for Lehman Brothers, said Monday it ruled out a bid which would not have been in the interest of shareholders.

In a statement in London, Barclays said, "We confirm that Barclays considered a combination with Lehman Brothers and did not proceed because it was not possible to conclude a transaction in the best interests of Barclays shareholders."

Berlin - Germany's Finance Ministry, central bank and federal financial supervisory authority said Monday the German financial markets would be able to cope with the fall-out from the collapse of the US bank, Lehman Brothers.

In a joint statement, the three said the commitments of German financial institutions to Lehman Brothers Holding were "manageable."

The Finance Ministry, the central bank, or Bundesbank, and the supervisory authority, or BaFin, said they remained in close contact with the corresponding institutions in other countries and were "watching very closely" further developments.