Morning Call by Greg Secker

Yesterday saw a coordinated interest rate cut by 7 of the worlds largest central banks. The world’s top central bankers stepped into boost confidence with a coordinated 50 basis point interest rate cut.....which was met with some indifference as the US treasury secretary warned some banks will still fail despite the $700bn (£406bn) rescue package to shore up the financial system.
In an unprecedented co-ordinated move on Wednesday, rates were cut by the Bank of England the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, with similar cuts from the central banks of Canada, Sweden and Switzerland.
Although it did not cut its own rate - which is just 0.5% - the Bank of Japan expressed its "strong support" of the policy. In a separate move, China cut its own interest rate by just over quarter of a percent.
While European and US markets initially reacted well to the news, they later lost ground as investors were unconvinced the rate cuts were enough to solve the financial crisis.
In New York, the main Dow Jones stock index lost ground for its sixth consecutive session, ending 2% down after a day of 400 point swings. It opened the day with early selling pressure, but bounced sharply off 9,200 before rallying to 9,600. The Dow then repeated its drop back to 9,200, rallied back to 9,600 before closing the day just above 9,200 with a loss of 189 points. As usual, the Dow should continue to be considered highly bearish, despite any intermediate rallies that may occur.

The FTSE also had a day of swings some as large as 300 points as news of Alastair Darlings Rescue Package and the coordinated interest rate cut hit the market. It closed the day down 238 points at 4366.

The DOW Futures are being called up 84 and the FTSE daily future is being called up 75 points. Crude Oil is trading at 87 dollars a barrel and Gold is trading at 894 dollars a troy ounce.