Asian stocks battered on fears for global economy

HONG KONG – Stocks in Asia were battered Wednesday, with Tokyo losing more than nine per cent, despite government measures to pump money into the market as investors grew more concerned for the global economy.

Hong Kong plummeted more than eight per cent while many of the region’s other major indexes shed at least five per cent as multi-billion-dollar injections by Australia and Japan as well as a rate cut in Hong Kong failed to lift confidence.

Tokyo’s Nikkei plummeted 9.38 per cent, its worst fall since the 1987 “Black Monday” crash, while Sydney shed five per cent. Hong Kong tanked 8.2 per cent to its lowest level in more than two years and Singapore lost 6.6 per cent.

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Elsewhere, Seoul slid 5.8 per cent and Taipei dived 5.76 per cent.

And in Jakarta the market was suspended due to “irregularities” after it slumped 10.4 per cent.

The falls came despite Tokyo ploughing another 2.1 trillion yen (20.7 billion dollars) into the markets, its 16th straight day of intervention, while Australia injected more than 850 million dollars.

It also came despite Hong Kong’s de facto central bank lowering interest rates by one per cent a day after a similar move in Australia lifted regional sentiment on hopes other world policymakers would follow suit.

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