Asian Stocks Close Higher Monday

Updated from 12:38 a.m. EDT

Asian stocks closed higher Monday, stocks in Europe were rising, and the U.S. market is poised to open to the upside Monday as countries around the world unveil plans to shore up their banking systems.

The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia closed up 5.6% as the Australian government announced a plan to guarantee all depositions with financial institutions. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 10.2%. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Stocks in Europe rose as European leaders pledged to guarantee new bank debt until the end of 2009, and the U.K. government said it plans to pump up to $64 billion into British banks Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS), HBOS, and Lloyds TSB to boost their capital ratios.

The FTSE 100 index in London rose 6.3%, and the DAX index in Frankfurt rose 6.4%.

In the U.S., Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard W. Fisher said the Fed will "consider every option"' to restore confidence, according to Bloomberg.

Stock futures in the U.S. were indicating a higher open Monday. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 51.40 points to 942.40, and were 40.64 points above fair value. Nasdaq futures rose 68 points to 1350.50, and were 72.31 points above fair value.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average swung violently throughout the session. The Dow suffered a sharp selloff of nearly 700 points early in the session to fall briefly below 8000 for the first time in more than five years. It rose briefly into positive territory two times, before ending the day down 128 points, or 1.5%, at 8451.19. The S&P 500 lost 10.7 points, or 1.2%, at 899.22. The Nasdaq gained 4.39 points, or 0.3%, at 1649.51.

For the week, the Dow dropped 18%, the S&P lost 18% and the Nasdaq dropped 15%.

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