 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Asian stocks are showing signs of life after opening sharply lower.
Several markets climbed into positive territory or pared losses after a global market rout the previous day.
Australian stocks jumped after its central bank cut interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 1 percentage point to 6 percent in response to the unfolding global financial crisis.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index erased some losses after briefly falling over 5 percent to below 10,000 for the first time in almost five years.
Markets in South Korea, India, Singapore and Taiwan all edged higher. Trading in Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
Investors in Asia said they were encouraged by a late day rally on Wall Street Monday as well as overall sentiment that Japanese stocks had fallen too far too fast.
Pessimism spread across financial markets worldwide Monday, with stocks falling in Japan and across Europe and here the Dow closing down 369 points.
Stocks swung wildly throughout trading, with the Down down 800 points at one point, setting a new record for a one-day point drop amid worries that the credit crisis would take a heavy toll around the world. All the major indexes fell more than 7 percent.
The catalyst for the sell-off was the growing realization that the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue plan and steps taken by other governments won't work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets. Global banks, hobbled by wrong-way bets on mortgage securities, remain starved for cash as credit has dried up.
That sent stocks spiraling downward in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and drove investors to sink money into the relative safety of U.S. government debt. Fears about a global recession also caused oil to drop below $90 a barrel; and the benchmark index that gauges fear in the market jumped to the highest level in its 18-year history.
"The fact is people are scared and the only thing they're doing is selling," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "Investors are cleaning out portfolios and getting rid of everything because nothing seems to be working."
The selling was so extreme that only 67 stocks rose on the NYSE, and 3,155 dropped. That's a telling sign considering the stock market is considered a leading economic indicator, with investors tending to buy and sell based on where they believe the economy will be in six to nine months.
Monday's steep decline on Wall Street indicates that investors are becoming more convinced that the country is leading a prolonged economic crisis that is spreading to other nations. Over the weekend, governments across Europe rushed to prop up failing banks, while the governments of Germany, Ireland and Greece also said they would guarantee bank deposits.
 KCBS’ Holly Quan Reports
Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. said late Sunday its takeover agreement with Wachovia Corp. will go forward after a state appeals court blocked a lower court ruling that favored rival bidder Citigroup Inc. Wells Fargo said it will "continue working toward the completion of its firm, binding merger agreement" with Wachovia.
Eli Lilly & Co. said its board approved an acquisition of ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion. The deal, which also has been approved by ImClone's board, will create one of the leading oncology franchises in the biopharmaceutical industry.
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