A look at latest developments in financial markets around the world:

Fund to steady S. Korea's market
SEOUL - A STOCKBROKERS' association on Friday announced plans for a joint fund to calm South Korea's turbulent stock market.

Bourse operator the Korea Exchange will establish the stabilisation fund jointly with the Korea Securities Dealers Association (KSDA) and the Korea Securities Depository, the KSDA said in a statement.

It said the size and timetable of the fund had not yet been decided.

The KSDA also said it will ask the government temporarily to cut the tax on share transactions. -- AFP

Russia's US$86b crisis plan
MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, on Friday approved two anti-crisis packages worth a total of $86 billion (S$127.1 billion) at the third and final reading. The packages include making available $50 billion of state money to banks and companies who need to refinance foreign debt, and giving 950 billion roubles (S$53.7 billion) to Russia's key banks in subordinated loans. -- REUTERS

European banks offer US$120b
FRANKFURT (Germany) - EUROPEAN central banks offered another US$120 billion (S$177.6 billion) in overnight cash to markets on Friday, in an effort to keep a strained financial system flush with cash.

The European Central Bank offered US$100 billion (S$146 billion) in its offer, the Bank of England US$10 billion, and the Swiss National Bank US$10 billion.

The ECB's and the BoE's offers mature on Monday. The SNB does not post details of its offers in the morning. The short term liquidity offers are similar to those in past weeks and the banks post more details on the offering later in the day.

The central banks have been offering cash to markets on almost a daily basis for the last weeks as the financial sector has become wary of lending to anyone - including other banks - and credit has become more scarce as a result. -- AP

Nikkei posts biggest 1-day loss since 1987
TOKYO - JAPAN'S Nikkei stock index plunged 9.62 per cent on Friday, the biggest loss since 'Black Monday' in October 1987 as market panic grew over the global financial crisis.

It was the third biggest loss ever for the Nikkei, which dived 881.06 points to end at 8,276.43.

The index has lost more than 24 per cent over the past week.

Russia closes stock markets
MOSCOW - RUSSIA'S financial regulator on Friday ordered the country's two main stock markets to remain closed after sharp falls in the United States and Asia.

'Following an order from the Federal Service for the Financial Markets, regular trading will be halted,' the RTS and MICEX exchanges wrote in statements posted on their websites. -- AFP

Australian shares down 8.3% at closing
SYDNEY - AUSTRALIAN shares were down 8.3 per cent at closing on Friday as the global financial crisis drove a fresh round of losses on world stock markets.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunged 360.2 points to 3,960.7, its lowest close in more than five years, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 351.9 points to 3,939.4.

Bank of Japan injects 4.5 trillion yen into money markets
TOKYO - THE Bank of Japan injected a total of 4.5 trillion yen (S$67.5 billion) into money markets on Friday, the highest since the financial crisis started, after a sharp plunge in share prices.

The Japanese central bank made three injections throughout the day as Tokyo share prices tumbled more than 10 per cent.

Central banks around the world are injecting massive amounts of cash into the money markets in hopes of preventing liquidity from drying up amid the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression. -- AFP

Philippine shares close 8.3% lower
MANILA - PHILIPPINE share prices closed 8.3 per cent lower on Friday, losing 190.64 points to 2,097.80 points, amid a global rout of the financial markets, dealers said. -- AFP

Brent crude falls below US$80
THE price of London's Brent crude for delivery in November fell below US$80 (S$119) a barrel in Asian trade on Friday.

The contract was down US$3.58 at US$79.08 after settling US$1.70 lower at US$82.66 on Thursday in London.

New York main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, plunged US$4.24 to US$82.37 a barrel from a drop of US$2.36 to US$86.59 on Thursday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

World oil prices have fallen sharply from record high levels above US$147 reached in July, on concerns that demand is slowing during a global financial crisis, dealers say. -- AFP

Indonesian market suspended for 3rd day
JAKARTA - INDONESIA suspended morning trading on the local stock exchange Friday as Asian markets plummeted, backing away from an earlier plan to reopen the bourse after a two-day halt, an official said.

'We will suspend share trade in the morning session,' Indonesia bourse president director Erry Firmansyah told Dow Jones Newswires.

He said Indonesian authorities will continue monitoring the global market situation before deciding whether to lift the suspension in the afternoon session (starting 0630 GMT, 2.30pm Singapore time). -- AFP

Japan to propose IMF help
TOKYO - JAPAN will propose the creation of a new scheme under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that would mobilise countries' foreign currency reserves to help fund emergency loans to emerging nations facing financial crises, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Under the plan, the IMF would ask the country that was to receive the funds to draw up a plan for revitalising its financial sector including writing off its bad assets. -- THOMSON REUTERS

Wells Fargo to buy Wachovia?
NEW YORK - WELLS Fargo emerged as the apparent victor in the battle for control of Wachovia bank on Thursday night, after rival suitor Citigroup broke off talks with Wells Fargo and federal regulators but vowed to have its day in court.

While Citigroup said it plans to seek US$60 billion (S$88.7 billion) in damages for breach of contract, it has decided not to challenge the Wells Fargo-Wachovia deal in court.

Wells Fargo said late on Thursday it had ended talks with Citigroup and was moving ahead to acquire all of Wachovia's banking and other operations. -- AP

Banks borrow record amount
WASHINGTON - BANKS borrowed in record amounts from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, while investment firms drew slightly less.

The Fed's report released on Thursday said commercial banks averaged a record US$75 billion in daily borrowing over the past week. That compared with a daily average of US$44.5 billion (S$66 billion) in the previous week, the old record.

For the week ending on Wednesday, investment firms drew US$134 billion. That was down from a record US$147.7 billion in the previous week.

This category was broadened last week to include any loans that were made to the US and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. -- AP