Global markets thrash
Europe flat, Nikkei sinks, Aussie stocks rise, Iceland moves to shore up its economy.
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Europe's major stock markets hovered around the break-even point Tuesday even as lingering concerns over the credit crisis continued to haunt world markets and financial institutions.
Nearly three hours into the trading day, London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2%, the CAC 40 in Paris gained half a point, and the XETRA DAX in Frankfurt was off 0.6%.
Russia's two main stock exchanges -- the RTS and MICEX -- reopened several hours late on Tuesday, a day after suffering steep plunges. The RTS index fell about 20% Monday. The RTS exchange resumed normal trading at 1 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) and was up 2.6% to 889.1 points as of 2 p.m (6 a.m. ET). The MICEX, where most trading takes place, rose by 3% to 774.5 points. It opened at 1:15 p.m. (5:15 a.m. ET)
Meanwhile, Iceland intervened Tuesday to shore up its banking industry after it halted trading of six bank stocks a day earlier. The Kaupthing Bank said it had received a 500-million euro ($692 million) loan from the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority to "facilitate" its operations. Early Tuesday, the government said it was taking over operations at the Landsbanki bank but that it would be "business as usual.".
Also, the Central Bank of Iceland said Tuesday that it has fixed the interbank exchange rate of the country's currency, the krona, at 175. The central bank's decision follows huge falls in the value of the krona as the financial crisis spreads.
Other European banks were being battered on Tuesday as nervous investors sold their stocks. Share in the Royal Bank of Scotland were off more than 30%. Barclays had dropped about 9%by late morning.
The developments came as European Union finance ministers were meeting in Luxembourg in emergency session.
Other world markets. After staggering out of the gates to start the week, some Asian and Pacific markets rebounded Tuesday.
South Korea's KOSPI was up about half a percent and Australia's All Ordinaries index gained 1.2%. The Taipei Weighted was up about a third of a point, but Bombay's BSE SENSEX was off about 2%.
Japan's Nikkei Exchange sported the biggest losses in Asia -- the Nikkei closed down 3%, after being down 5% and below the 10,000 mark for the first time in nearly five years. Japan's central bank rate held its main lending rate steady, disappointing investors looking for a cut coordinated with other central banks.
Chines and Hong Kong markets were closed for a holiday.
But Australia's ASX-100 index finished up 1.8% after that nation's central bank lowered its key lending rate by one full percentage point..
Latin American markets took a solid beating Monday. Argentina's MerVal sloughed off 5.9% of its value. Both Brazil's Bovespa and Mexico's IPC slipped 5.4%.
In the United States, the Dow Jones industrials plunged by as much as 800 points on the day, falling below 10,000 for the first time since October 2004. The Dow erased more than half those losses, finishing the day down 3.6%.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
