US calls for unity as markets dive

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Emerging mkt asset bubble may not burst soonWorld stocks up 75 pct from MarchAsia stocks at 14-month highDow passes 10,000 mark on earnings optimism

New York, October 7:: a year ago, to reduce regulation.

FOCUS ON BANKS

Bank of America Corp, the largest US bank, posted a 68 per cent drop in quarterly earnings, halved its dividend and said it would seek to raise $10 billion in new capital.

Bank of America had been seen as a pillar of strength in a battered industry and made headlines with its plan to acquire investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. But analysts said the results showed the bank is also reeling from the credit crisis.

The weaker earnings reflected higher costs from two of the bank's most recent acquisitions, Countrywide Financial Corp, which had been the country's largest independent mortgage lender, and Chicago-based LaSalle Bank.

Deals to shore up the capital and liquidity of European banks seen at risk dominated a weekend of frenzied deal-making and emergency intervention by government officials.

Iceland gave regulators sweeping powers to oversee a faltering banking system as its currency fell 30 per cent.

France's BNP Paribas agreed to scoop up assets in Belgium and Luxembourg of banking and insurance group Fortis for 14.5 billion euros ($20.1 billion) to become the euro zone's biggest deposit bank.