Global shares surged Wednesday after six of the world's leading central banks - including the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve - launched a surprise round of coordinated action to shore up global financial market liquidity, dpa reported. The banks hope their move to cut the cost of money around the world will head off the threat of the eurozone debt crisis triggering a new credit crunch. "The purpose of these actions is to ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity," the ECB said in a statement. The financial lifeline thrown by the central banks helped to ease for the time being some of the pressure on European political leaders as they battle to contain the debt crisis that has dragged on for more than two years. The central banks' action came amid a growing sense in both financial markets and among policy makers that time is running out for political leaders to contain the crisis.
