Major central banks to 'provide dollars to markets'

The world's leading central banks have decided on joint action to provide banks with extra dollar liquidity, the European Central Bank said on Thursday. "The governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided, in coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank, to conduct three US dollar liquidity-providing operations with a maturity of approximately three months covering the end of the year," the ECB said in a statement. "These operations will be conducted in addition to the ongoing weekly seven-day operations announced in May 2010." The announcement drove up sharply shares in European banks, and Europe stocks market surged by about 3.0 percent. Some European banks have run into serious problems in borrowing dollars for their dollar-related activities because US funds which usually lend to them have withdrawn on concerns that contagion from the eurozone debt crisis could weaken banks.