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TOKYO: The sell off on the world's stock exchanges continued in Asian markets Tuesday, as governments scrambled to shore up confidence and stem the turmoil caused by the global financial crisis.
Markets in Asia were sharply down, with shares in Tokyo falling more than five per cent at one point, a day after a global rout saw New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average fall below 10,000 points for the first time since 2004.
In Europe, where the failure to tackle the crisis with a common plan has been blamed for much of the market turmoil, finance ministers were to begin preparing their first joint measure Tuesday to reassure nervous savers.
In a joint declaration Monday they pledged to protect the stability of financial institutions by providing "liquidity support through central banks, action to deal with individual banks or enhanced depositor protection schemes."
The Luxembourg meeting could result in a plan to lift minimum bank deposit guarantees to as much as 100,000 euros (US$135,000).
"We will all take the necessary measures to ensure the stability of the financial system," said Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the group of finance ministers from the 15 countries that share the euro.
Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said the ECB would keep injecting money into the banking system "as long as necessary" to help institutions hit by the current crisis.
In Washington, US Treasury officials said they would act quickly to implement a massive bailout plan for the financial sector, seeking bids by Wednesday to manage the troubled mortgage-related assets at the root of the crisis.
The Federal Reserve and Treasury said they were studying the possibility of making unsecured loans in an effort to keep much-needed credit flowing.
The Federal Reserve said it would start to pay interest on bank deposits and expand bank loans to up to US$900 billion by year-end in a bid to increase liquidity.
US President George W. Bush visited a group of small business owners in Texas, saying he understood the difficulties being faced by the car dealer, auto shop repair owner and restaurateurs he had met.
"It's clear they're dealing with the effects of a credit crunch," Bush said. "They're having trouble getting money to be able to continue to expand their business or money to help their consumers be able to buy their products."
The turmoil emerged after the collapse of loans to would-be US homebuyers with shaky credit histories and caused a chaotic chain reaction, revealing how cheap credit throughout the financial system had created a massive bubble.
The US government approved a law Friday to buy up US$700 billion of bad mortgages and other assets from banks, which would wipe the debts from their books in hopes they will be able to start lending more freely again.
But approval of the massive bailout plan has failed to calm world markets, which have continued to tumble sharply. Economist Peter Morici at the University of Maryland said the bailout had not worked.
"The bank bailout will provide banks with much-needed liquidity but it does not address the compensation and management practices on Wall Street that drove irresponsible decisions and gave rise to the crisis," he said.
Shares in Tokyo closed down 3.03 per cent Tuesday, recovering some of the Nikkei's losses earlier in the morning session.
Australian shares bucked the trend, ending up 1.7 per cent after the central bank slashed interest rates by one percentage point to 6.5 per cent.
On Monday, Wall Street also came back from the edge, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 3.58 per cent, off 369 points after losing as much as 800 points.
The partial comeback offered a glimmer of hope on an otherwise horrific day for global markets that saw London's FTSE 100 index fall 7.86 per cent and Paris's CAC 40 shed 9.04 per cent.
Shares in Moscow fell 19.10 per cent, the market's worst-ever tumble.
"When will the slide end? It's anybody's guess," said David Kastner at Charles Schwab & Co.
"But the aggressive actions being taken by the Fed, and increasingly by the central bankers in Europe and Asia, point to an eventual stabilisation in confidence - where the real crisis lies. In the meantime, we expect sharp bouts of bargain hunting and more panic sell-offs."
In Iceland, Prime Minister Geir Haarde said the government was ready to take control of the country's banks, citing "a gargantuan crisis which is part of a broader worldwide crisis."
The turbulence pushed the euro down against the dollar and yen, while oil prices fell below US$90 a barrel on fears about slowing demand for energy.
- AFP/yb
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