G7 meeting ahead to fix the market

Global policy makers gather in Washington this weekend for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. All eyes are on Friday's meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers.

Other moves could come from the U.S. where authorities are considering radical new measures to shore up ailing financial markets, including guaranteeing billions in bank debt and insuring all U.S. bank deposits for a temporary period.

However, valuation measures for equities are rarely sufficient in themselves to spark a rally; they usually need to be combined with positive signals in terms of investor confidence and also a major policy response.

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