World Markets Mixed: 'Fasten Your Seatbelts'

A huge cash injection into global money markets by central banks and the buyout of British lender HBOS by Lloyds-TSB eased some investor worries and pushed European stocks slightly higher today, reports the New York Times. But concerns about the ongoing crisis in the US continued to batter Asian stocks and prompted Russian exchanges to suspend trading until tomorrow.

“People are still very, very nervous,” said one expert. While European markets edged up slightly, concerns that a tight global credit market would worsen drove Asian markets down sharply, especially across the banking sector. Investors dumped stocks for safe havens like gold and Treasury bills, fearing banks would simply stop lending altogether.