The last time bad weather closed the stock markets was in October 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast with flooding, punishing winds and widespread power outages.
The last time central banks cooperated to intervene in currency markets was in 1998, when the United States and Japan rescued the tumbling Japanese yen.
Mr. Monti acknowledged to lawmakers on Friday that the financial crisis now unsettling world markets was in part due to "serious malfunction of financial institutions and the markets," but he also said Italians were not without blame.
BEIJING — The U.S. Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, said Thursday that allowing the renminbi to appreciate was as important to reshaping China's economy as opening its markets was in the 1970s.
The last time severe weather led to the closing of the stock markets was in October 2012 when Superstorm Sandy hit the East with flooding, punishing winds and widespread power outages.
The last time the Federal Reserve intervened in currency markets was in September 2000, when it teamed up with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan to shore up the faltering euro.
