London - The British government Wednesday announced a major rescue package for leading banks of 50 billion pounds (87 billion dollars) to stabilize the banking system, according to a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, detailing the plan in a written statement to the London stock market Wednesday, has said it was aimed at placing the banking industry on a long term "sound footing."

Jakarta - The Indonesia Stock Exchange halted trading on Wednesday after the benchmark composite index plunged 10.38 percent on fears about the global financial crisis.

New Delhi  - India's benchmark stock market ind

Manila - Philippine shar

There seems to be no stopping for Sensex. It lost more than 800 points because of worldwide financial crisis.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex touched an all time low of 10,940.85 in early trading. All segments suffered huge losses. This is the benchmark’s lowest since early August 2006.

Consumer Durables, which suffered the most, fell over 13% because of heavy selling in key stocks in that space.

Real estate, metal, IT, banking and power sectors took a severe hammering. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index plummeted 8.57% and 7.28% respectively. 

Hong