Central banks in Asia yesterday joined their western counterparts and cut interest rates in an attempt to ward off the global financial turmoil threatening to stall the region's decade-long economic boom.

The rate cuts in South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which helped Asian equities stage a modest recovery, came a day after China and six central banks including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank also slashed their rates. Hopes that the global action could spur a recovery in the European and US markets quickly faded yesterday as equities came under further pressure and the frozen money markets showed no signs of thawing.