Markets have started 2016 with a healty dose of turmoil, and so many were wondering how long - and who - would be the first central bank to intervene in either directly or verbally in markets.

Moments ago we go the answer when Sweden's Riksbank announced it has held an extraordinary monetary policy meeting in which it took the decision required to be able to "instantly intervene on the foreign exchange market if necessary, as a complementary monetary policy measure, to safeguard the rise in inflation."

This is what else it said:

Having been halted down around 7% overnight, China's CSI-300 index is extending its losses in US trading as ASHR (the CSI-300 tracking ETF) is down 9% - its biggest drop since the August collapse. This plunges Chinese stocks to 3-month lows...

The S&P 500 is down over 2% at the cash open - with FANTAsy stocks collapsing 5-8% - flirting with the crucial 2,000 "mission accomplished" level. Here are the short-term support levels..

S&P support levels stand at:

From Editor Robert Parry: Thanks to the generosity of our readers Consortiumnews has come close to its year-end fundraising goal of $50,000, which puts us on a more solid footing as we enter an important year for the United States and the world. We will hold the fund drive open a few more days to see…

SAS troops have been deployed in Libya preparing to wrest back control of more than a dozen oil fields seized by Islamic State. Approximately 6,000 European and US soldiers, including 1,000 British troops, will be involved in a number of offensives set up to halt the advance of ISIS. According to the Daily Mirror, the operation, supported mainly by Britain and France, will be led by Italian forces and is planned within the next few weeks or months.