MONDAY finally saw Wall Street reopen again after a four-day closure following the atrocities -- its longest shutdown since the Great Depression.

An hour before it opened, the US Federal Reserve announced a surprise further interest rate cut of half a point in an attempt to try to avert a feared market collapse.

There were also hopes of a patriotic rally and companies supporting their own shares through share buy-back programmes.

However, all this was in vain as the Dow Jones indeed collapsed by 680 points, or seven per cent, to its lowest point for almost three years.

Other markets had almost been on standstill the previous week following the attacks, dreading the effect it would have on Wall Street, the financial capital of the world.

Shortly after, the European Central Bank gave its support to the US by also announcing a shock half-point cut in its interest rates, in a joint effort to try to buoy up confidence and stave off an impending global recession.

As a result, the Bank of England was pressured into announcing a rate cut itself the following day but restricted the cut to a quarter-point reduction.

The move, which will bring the cost of borrowing to the lowest for nearly 30 years, is the first time the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, has cut rates outside its scheduled meetings.

Interest rates are now at 4.75 per cent, returning to lows not seen since the 1960s.

However, the delay in this decision, a more modest cut than originally hoped, was following a rise in the underlying inflation rate, which jumped to 2.6 per cent last month, thus rising above the Bank's 2.5 per cent target for the first time in 2 years.

However, despite efforts to resist the downturn, UK markets have also failed.

The FTSE 100 hit its lowest point for four years this week following a spate of profit warnings and the impact of the attacks coming into full force.

Among the biggest casualties is the insurance sector which will obviously have to pick up a lot of the costs.

Also, the airline industry is facing massive losses with a huge decline in passengers. British Airways has been battered with the majority of its profits coming from transatlantic flights.

Finally, as a result, there is also a decline in aircraft orders, which forced Boeing to announce a cutback of 30,000 workers.

This hit the aviation sector with BAe Systems suffering and also Rolls- Royce, the jet engine producer, has fallen to an eight-year low.