Global shares recover lost ground

European shares opened higher on Tuesday after Asian stock markets staged late rallies, clawing back some of their recent losses.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 was up 2.2%, the Dax in Frankfurt rose 8.0% and the Cac 40 in Paris was unchanged.

Trading is expected to remain volatile as concerns remain about the depth of the global downturn.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell below 7,000 for the first time in 26 years before recovering to close up 6.4%.

Authorities said that to stabilise markets, they would bring forward a ban on traders selling shares that they did not already own and had not borrowed.

The Nikkei closed up 459.02 points at 7,621.92.

Exporters were helped by a sharp fall in the value of the Japanese yen against the US dollar.

The yen has been appreciating against the dollar recently, but on Tuesday, its value fell to 95.51 yen to the dollar from 93.01.

Asian gains

Share prices across Asia had initially lost ground again on opening, following volatile trading throughout the world.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up 14.4%, which was its biggest daily percentage gain for 11 years.

It followed a 12.7% decline on Monday.

Even after Tuesday's gains, the Nikkei and Hang Seng had fallen more than 30% since the beginning of the month.

South Korea's Kospi index initially dropped 2.6%, but later rose to finish 5% up on the day.

Early ban

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told reporters that the ban on naked short-selling, which had been due to come into force on 4 November, would be brought forward.

Naked short-selling involves making a deal to sell shares that you do not own and relying on being able to buy the shares before the deal has to be settled.

It is done by traders who hope that the price of the shares will fall between the sale and the purchase of the shares, allowing them to pocket the difference.

The announcement follows similar moves by governments in the US, Australia and Europe.

"I decided on the measure because these few days will be critical and stock exchanges are facing risks unless we take quick action," said Mr Nakagawa.

"Japan was easily under pressure from other sources and that is why it was important to change the rules to US and European standards."

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso has said he will delay calling a general election in order to handle the economic crisis, according to the Kyodo news agency.

Mr Aso, who took office a month ago, had been widely expected to call an early election to address the deep divisions in the Japanese parliament.