Govts step up efforts to shore up faltering bank sector

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TOKYO, Oct 20 (AFP): Leading stock markets in Asia moved higher early today on the heels of new emergency steps taken by nations around the world to shore up the international banking system and restore investor confidence amid a yawning financial crisis.
Japanese share prices rose 0.82 per cent in early trade, extending a 2.28-per cent rise seen Friday. Dealers said bargain hunters were on the prowl following the market's recent slump, but said gains were capped by continued worries about the global financial crisis.
By contrast, shares in Taiwan shares opened down 2.43 per cent Monday.
Australian share prices rose 2.7 per cent by midday, a rise analysts said was broadbased.
"Clearly, the information we got from overseas on the weekend wasn't all that bad," Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan told the Australian Associated Press.
The rise came despite growing fears of a global recession and amid signs of greater coordination between world governments aimed at easing the credit crunch and market gyrations that have wrought havoc on global markets for weeks.
The crisis led Sunday to the ouster of the top brass at a top bank in France and prompted the Dutch government to bail out another in the Netherlands.
The top echelon of France's Caisse d'Epargne quit at an emergency meeting Sunday, the latest casualties of the ongoing crisis.
The chairman, director-general and finance director of the French bank quit over a 600-million-euro (800 million dollar) loss in a derivatives trading "incident" on October 6 as world share markets were crashing over the global finance crisis.