Wall Street stock futures slumped on Monday, tracking an overseas selloff on fears that efforts to avert a global recession are foundering.

Overseas markets sank, shrugging off the latest round of government measures and interventions.

Over the weekend, the International Monetary Fund announced rescue plans for Hungary and Ukraine.

South Korea on Monday announced a surprise interest-rate cut and the Group of Seven industrialized nations expressed concern about the Japanese yen’s recent appreciation against the U.S. dollar.

The financial ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of Seven major industrial countries issued a joint statement late Sunday in which they expressed their concern about the recent volatility of the yen.

In Asia, Hong Kong dropped 12.7% and Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 6.4%.

The Nikkei 225 index dropped 486.18 points to 7,162.90, its lowest close in 26 years as investors unwound transactions in which they had invested yen in higher-yielding U.S.-dollar assets.

The declines in Asia prompted a selloff in European shares,

London’s FTSE 100 index down was 4.75% near midday. The German DAX declined 3.8% and the Paris CAC-40 tumbled 6%.

The U.S. dollar continued to climb against the euro and the British pound, ahead of the release Monday of U.S. new-home sales for September and before Wednesday’s interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve.

Here at home, the commodities-linked Canadian dollar opened lower at US77.74¢, down 0.82 cent from Friday after losing 5.7 cents last week and about 16 cents since the start of October.

In Monday trade, oil futures fell US$1.92 to US$62.23 a barrel and gold futures slumped US$19.60 to US$711.70 an ounce.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In other financial market news, Dutch insurance company Aegon said it is considering tapping a fund established by the Netherlands to shore up its financial institutions.

Monday’s earnings calendar features results from Verizon Communications and Loews.

On Friday, stocks in Toronto managed to regain some ground to close down less than half a per cent — a much milder drop than many had feared.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 37.26 points, or 0.4%, to close at 9,294.09. The index had opened the day down 5% after tumbling Asian stock markets sparked concerns that similar large-scale losses would hit North American markets.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 27.04 points, or 3.15% to close at 830.96.

Markets south of the border finished the week with another day of hefty losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 312.3 points, or 3.6%, to end at 8,378.95, leaving the blue-chip index 5.3% lower for the week. The Nasdaq composite index lost 51.88 points, or 3.2%, to finish at 1,552.03, down 9.3% from last Friday’s close. The S&P 500 index fell 31.34 points, or 3.5%, to 876.77 –a weekly loss of 6.8%.