Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he does not think the market will be adversely affected by the collapse of stockbroking firm Opes Prime.

Losses in the banking sector and a poor lead from Wall Street have dragged down the Australian share market for the second day.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have called for banks to declare the full extent of their losses due to the current financial crisis.

The Australian share market has closed weaker following a poor lead from Wall Street and losses in the financial and banking sectors.

Gains in the resources sector have helped the Australian share market end on a three-week closing high.

A senior economist says today's strong rally on the Australian share market should not be seen as the beginning of a solid long-term recovery.

Japan's Nikkei Index rose for the third straight day following gains overnight on Wall Street and a week of fluctuation amid global worries about a possible U.S. recession. Financial analysts say concern is steadily growing among investors and officials in Asia about just how damaging the predicted recession will be.

With the market stuck in a downtrend many participants are saying “Help me Obi Ben Bernanke. You’re my only hope.” Bear Stearns managed to wipe away any chance of a pre-Fed meeting rally. Rallies leading up to Fed meetings are fairly common as investors hope for good news. Selloffs prior to meetings are not common.

European and Asian stock markets have dropped sharply Monday, and the dollar fell, hours after the U.S. Central Bank made moves to avert a credit crisis that threatens to plunge the U.S. economy into recession.

Stock markets in Japan and Hong Kong plummeted on fears that even heavyweights in the financial sector could collapse in the U.S sub-prime mortgage crisis. The U.S. dollar also hit a 13-year low against the yen.

South Africa's benchmark stock index, the FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index, fell the most since Feb. 5, down 671.66, or 2.2 percent to 29,976.37 at 10.36 a.m. in Johannesburg.

Gold prices zoomed past all previous records to open at a new peak of Rs 13,500 in the bullion market in the Capital on Monday on brisk buying by stockists, influenced by strong global cues.