Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes. Hong Kong's main index slid 2.7%. London, Frankfurt and Paris opened down more than 1%. Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney also declined. Wall Street futures were off 1%. Oil prices plunged more than $2 per barrel. Swiss authorities on Sunday announced UBS would acquire its smaller rival as regulators try to ease fears about banks following the collapse of two U.S. lenders. Central banks announced coordinated efforts to stabilize lenders, including a facility to borrow U.S. dollars if necessary. Switzerland’s share benchmark was down 1.8%, while Credit Suisse’s shares plunged 63% and rival UBS, which is acquiring it, sank 14%. Also Read: UBS to buy Credit Suisse for nearly $3.25B to calm turmoil Investors worry banks are cracking under the strain of unexpectedly fast, large rate hikes over the past year to cool economic activity and inflation. Prices of bonds and other assets on their books fell, fueling unease about the industry’s financial health. “Investors are waiting to see where the dust settles on the banking saga before making any bold moves,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 1.6% to 7,220.62. Frankfurt's DAX fell 1.4% to 14,555.79 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.2% to 6,842.36. On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was off 1%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2%. On Friday, the S&P 500 lost 1.1%. The Dow fell 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.7%. In Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2.7% to 18,879.20 after being down 3.3% at one point. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 1.4% to 26,945.67. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,234.91 after the Chinese central bank on Friday freed up more money for lending by reducing the amount of their deposits commercial lenders are required to hold in reserve. The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.7% to 2,379.20 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost 1.4% to 6,898.50. India's Sensex lost 1.3% to 57,241.45. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also declined. The Swiss government said UBS will acquire Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion after a plan for the troubled lender to borrow as much as $54 billion from Switzerland’s central bank failed to reassure investors and customers. U.S. regulators have also tried to calm fears over threats to banking systems. The Federal Reserve said cash-short banks had borrowed about $300 billion in the week up to Thursday. Separately, New York Community Bank agreed to buy part of failed Signature Bank in a $2.7 billion deal, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Sunday. The FDIC said $60 billion in Signature Bank’s loans will remain in receivership and are expected to be sold off in time. Investors worry about other lenders with shaky finances. Credit Suisse is among 30 institutions known as globally systemically important banks. Traders expect last week’s turmoil to push the Fed to limit a rate hike at this week's meeting to 0.25 percentage points. That would be the same as the previous increase and half the margin traders expected earlier. A survey released Friday by the University of Michigan showed inflation expectations among American consumers are falling. That matters to the Fed, which has said such expectations can feed into virtuous and vicious cycles. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude plunged $2.45 to $64.29 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.61 on Friday to $66.74. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil, lost $2.67 to $70.30 per barrel in London. It retreated $1.73 the previous session to $72.97. The dollar declined to 130.70 yen from Friday’s 131.67 yen. The euro retreated to $1.0647 from $1.0681.

Ethnic Karen guerrillas said they captured a Myanmar army base Tuesday near the border with Thailand, representing a morale-boosting action for those opposing the military’s takeover of the country’s civilian government in February. Myanmar’s military staged airstrikes several hours later on villages in territory controlled by the Karen forces, said a guerrilla spokesman, a senior Thai official and a relief worker. A spokesman for the Karen National Union, the minority’s main political group seeking greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government, said its armed wing attacked the base at 5 a.m. and burned it down just after dawn. Casualty figures were not yet known, the KNU’s head of foreign affairs, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, said in a text message. There was no immediate comment from Myanmar’s military government. The KNU, which controls territory in eastern Myanmar near the Thai border, is a close ally of the resistance movement against the military takeover that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Its armed wing is called the Karen National Liberation Army. Video shot from the Thai side of the border showed flames rising from the government position on the banks of the Salween River, amid the sound of heavy gunfire. The river marks the border with Thailand. A report by the Karen Information Center, an online news site, quoted an unnamed villager on the Thai side of the river saying he saw seven government soldiers trying to flee the camp, which is opposite Thailand’s Mae Sam Laep village. Also read: ASEAN leaders demand Myanmar coup leaders end killings Padoh Man Man of the KNLA’s 5th Brigade, which launched the morning’s attack, said Myanmar’s military carried out airstrikes in the early afternoon, but he did not know how many casualties there were. He described the air raids to The Associated Press as a “heinous war crime” and called for the international community to pressure the junta to stop them. Sithichai Jindaluang, the governor of Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, confirmed at a news conference that Karen guerrillas had overrun the Myanmar base and said a woman on Thai soil was wounded by a stray bullet during the morning’s fighting. He said about 450 villagers have been evacuated from Mae Sam Lap for their own safety. Sithichai also said a Myanmar military aircraft later bombed a Karen village. Dave Eubank of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian aid group with extensive experience in the area, said he could confirm that there had been airstrikes on Karen villages in two townships in Papun district. He said Myanmar’s army was also staging ground attacks in the area. Neither he nor the governor had casualty figures available. Also read: Southeast Asian summit to address Myanmar’s post-coup crisis Fighting between the KNU’s armed wing and Myanmar’s military has been intense since February. Government airstrikes began on March 27. Myanmar jets have bombed and strafed Karen villages, and its army has deployed fresh battalions to the area, in possible preparation for a large-scale offensive. Up to 25,000 villagers have fled their homes and are hiding in jungles and caves, according to Eubank. In response, the KNLA has kept up guerrilla attacks on Myanmar patrols and bases. The KNU has also given shelter to activists against military rule who have fled the government’s crackdown on the resistance movement in the cities. There is a similar situation in northern Myanmar, where the Kachin minority claims to have captured several government outposts and been the target of air attacks. The Karen and the Kachin are two of the bigger minority groups that have been seeking greater autonomy for decades, during which there have been periods of armed conflict punctuated by ceasefires. Also read: ASEAN leaders meet Myanmar coup leader amid killings The city-based resistance movement against the current ruling junta has wooed the ethnic guerrilla groups in hopes that they can form a federal army as a counterweight to the government’s armed forces. A parallel National Unity Government established by elected lawmakers prevented from taking their seats by the army has appointed representatives of several minority groups to ministerial posts.