News that central banks will provide unlimited dollar funds has caused share prices to rise.
Stock markets in Europe and Asia have rallied following the announcement by major central banks that they will offer unlimited dollar loans to ailing financial institutions. World leaders insisted at the weekend that no bank would be allowed to fail.
The FTSE 100 rose more than five percent, as did the Cac 40 in Paris and Frankfurt's DAX index. This follows earlier gains in Asia, with exchanges in Hong Kong, South Korea and Shanghai also seeing major increases in share prices.
In the UK, the rebound of the FTSE 100 follows a week of almost unprecedented falls, dropping 21 percent over the week - the biggest decline since 1987. By lunchtime today the index was up 4.3 percent at 4100, a gain of 168.9 points.
Commenting on the market reaction to the rescue plans, Keith Bowman, equity strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown, told Reuters: "There's still a huge amount of nervousness and volatility around but we do seem to have taken a step in the right direction with some coordination from governments and some definite action."
Meanwhile, the World Federation of Exchanges has insisted that trading on global stock markets should continue, despite calls for the markets to be suspended during the current financial crisis.
