NEW YORK, Oct 22: The White House set a date of Nov 15 for the first of a series of international crisis summits as the biggest financial disaster in 80 years wrought more havoc from Budapest to Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

Hungary hiked interest rates, Ukraine and Belarus sought IMF help, currencies tumbled against the dollar and yen, global stock markets fell and US companies announced job cuts and weaker earnings.

The summit, 11 days after the US presidential election, will bring together leaders of the G20, which includes the Group of Seven major industrial economies plus key emerging-market countries like China, India and Brazil.

Stung by more bad news from companies that are the backbone of the US economy, major US stock indexes dropped about 3 per cent and oil hit a 16-month low below $68.

AT&T Inc and Boeing were among companies reporting weaker-than-expected earnings, and drugmaker Merck & Co said it would cut 7,200 jobs.

—Reuters