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Traders around the globe tried different methods of seeing in 2008, but the New Year brought difficult conditions for most of the world's stock markets.

In Pakistan, the Karachi Stock Exchange continued to fall in its third open session since Benazir Bhutto's assassination. The index lost almost 3pc as it appeared that elections would be postponed.

Supplication from a Roman Catholic priest during the annual mass that follows the closing bell on the first trading day of the year couldn't prevent the Philippines Stock Exchange from closing down 0.1pc on the day at 3617, while an inflatable sculpture of a bull left traders in South Korea similarly unimpressed as the Kospi Index opened the year 2.3pc down at 1853.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was one of the few global markets to get the year off to a positive start as the index rose 0.2pc to 5273.