Australia cuts interest rate

Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by one percentage point, the most since a recession in 1992, triggering a rebound in Asian stocks on speculation other countries will follow to unlock credit markets.

"There's some talk around that there could be a coordinated global interest-rate cut tonight and that the Reserve Bank of Australia is preempting that," said Simon Bonouvrie, a portfolio manager at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney.

Yesterday's cut to 6 percent, twice as much as most economists forecast, is aimed at getting banks to resume lending. Banks around the world have been hoarding cash, driving up lending rates, even as central banks including Australia's pump money into the financial system.