The central bank approved a cut in its emergency lending rate to financial institutions to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent, effective immediately, and created a lending facility for big investment banks to secure short-term loans. The new lending facility will be available to Wall Street firms on Monday.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080317/fed_credit_crisis.htmlGlobal markets tumble on JPMorgan's rescue of Bear Stearns
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_bi_ge/world_marketsJapan's benchmark 225 index sank 3.7 percent to close at 11,787.51 points, its lowest in more than 2 1/2 years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 5.2 percent to finish at 21,084.61.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, all major stock indexes were down, including markets in Australia, China, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines. India's Sensex dropped 5.1 percent in afternoon trading.
"""European stocks fell in morning trading. The U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 dipped 2.3 percent to 5,503.6 while France's CAC 40 slid 2.7 percent to 4,468.28. Germany's DAX slipped 3.3 percent. ...."
""The euro rose to a record high $1.5903........."
"....sweet crude for April delivery spiked to a record $111.80 a barrel ..."