London - Slumping banking shares gave the Financial Times Index a roller-coaster ride on the London stock market Tuesday where early gains all but evaporated as pressure grew on the government to agree on a cash bail-out package for leading banks.

The FTSE-Index was up by 1.7 per cent, or 76 points, to 4,665.2 points at lunchtime, after surging ahead by almost 3 per cent in early morning trading.

Riga  - The Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Ilmars Rimsevics, called on the Latvian government to be "strategic and resolute" Tuesday, in order to speed the country's aim of adopting the euro as its currency.

Speaking to an audience of bankers and businessmen in the Latvian capital, Riga, Rimsevics bemoaned the fact that rapid economic growth in recent years had created a situation in which "many seemed to succumb to the euphoria of the moment, forgetting our long term commitments and strategic goals."

Latvia originally intended to replace its lats with the euro in 2008 but narrowly failed to meet the necessary Maastricht convergence criteria on inflation, which subsequently soared.

Frankfurt - The European Central Bank (ECB) on Tuesday provided 250 billion euros (338 billion dollars) to commercial banks in a regular one-week loan at an interest rate of 4.99 per cent.

New York  - Banking rivals Citigroup and Wells Fargo have postponed for a day legal action over their tug-of-war for Wachovia, the United States' fourth-largest bank, it was disclosed Tuesday.

Citigroup on Monday filed a lawsuit against rival Wells Fargo & Co and Wachovia for 60 billion dollars in punitive and compensatory damages after a Wachovia announcement that it would go with a takeover offer of 15 billion dollars in a stock-for-stock exchange from Wells Fargo.

The Wells Fargo offer would override a Citigroup-government deal announced September 29, which offered 2.16 billion dollars for Wachovia.

Jakarta - Indonesia's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 9.50 per cent on Tuesday, signalling its commitment to fight inflation at the risk of slower growth, officials said.

Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono told reporters that the key rate was increased to suit high inflation and to anticipate the global financial crisis.

Inflation soared to 12.14 per cent year-on-year in September from 11.85 per cent in August, driven by resilient domestic demand and higher global commodity and fuel prices.

Indonesia's stock index plunged 10.02 per cent on Monday amid the global credit crisis. On Tuesday, the Indonesian composite index was down 1.76 per cent.

Reykjavik - The Icelandic government, backed by opposition parties, adopted an "emergency law" late on Monday to reorganize its financial system that has been severely battered.

Prime Minister Geir Haarde said in a televised speech to the nation that the bank crisis also posed a national threat.

"There is a very real danger, fellow citizens, that the Icelandic economy, in the worst case, could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could be national bankruptcy," he said.

The new legislation was to "adapt the banking system to Icelandic circumstances and rebuild the trust of foreign operators in Icelandic banking and financial operations," Haarde said.