Finance ministers from richest industrialised nations have pledged action to tackle the financial crisis. The G7 nations issued a five-point plan of "decisive action" to unfreeze credit markets, after a meeting in Washington.

Widespread fears of a global recession caused Asian, European and US markets to tumble on Friday despite rate cuts and cash injections by central banks.
The US also said it would invest directly in banks for the first time since the 1930s, following a UK move.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said the United States would move aggressively on one part of the plan by infusing American banks directly with cash and taking ownership stakes in return.

In the five-point plan, issued after finance ministers met at the Treasury Department, the Group of 7 countries broadly endorsed the idea of taking ownership positions in banks — a strategy first adopted by Britain and now emerging as a major part of the rescue effort in the United States.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and UK FTSI ccapped the worst week in its 112-year history with its most volatile day ever, as hopes for a major international bank-rescue plan were overwhelmed at day's end by another wave of selling.

Some investors who normally would be jumping to buy beaten-down stocks after a 22% drop over eight trading days said the relentless declines have left them shell-shocked and unwilling to take new risks. Some spent the day trying to protect themselves from further declines. Simmilar drop was noted around the globe.

Amid the gloom, the British pound tumbled to a five-year low against the US dollar and oil prices plummeted to a one-year low.

Germany remains deeply reluctant about such a course, according to people with knowledge of the German position, because of fears that it would end up bailing out the banks of its neighbors.

The United States and Germany appear to be the pivotal players in determining whether recapitalizing banks becomes a global standard, given that Britain has already adopted such a plan, and France, Italy and Japan generally support it. Japan recapitalized its banks after a financial crisis in the 1990s.