Asian markets tumble

Wall Street,where stocks took their deepest dive in more than a year,have caused Asian markets to tumble today.

The wave of selling came amid growing fears that Europe8217;s debt crisis could spread around the world. An unexpected increase in US jobless claims added to the pessimism.

Japan8217;s Nikkei 225 stock average shed 258.69 points,or 2.6 per cent,to 9,771.62,while Australia8217;s Samp;P/ASX 200 index was down 0.5 per cent at 4,297.00. Indonesia8217;s benchmark stock index plunged 4 per cent,Singapore fell 2.2 per cent and India slid 1.3 per cent.

Hong Kong and South Korean stock exchanges were closed for a public holiday. Trading in Thailand has been suspended due to political turmoil.

Investors fear debt problems in countries like Greece and Portugal will spill over to other countries in Europe.

That could then trigger a cascade of losses for big banks and in turn halt economic recovery in the U.S. and elsewhere.

8220;The danger is that the fear becomes self-fulfilling and disrupts the real economy and derails what8217;s been a stronger than expected global economic recovery,8221; said David Cohen,an economist with Action Economics in Singapore. 8220;The 2008 crisis in the US showed how damaging it can be when investors become so fearful of counterparty risk,they simply flee to the safety of Treasuries.8221;

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Singapore8217;s DBS bank cut its 2010 economic growth forecast for Europe to 0.6 per cent from 1.1 per cent.

A stronger yen hammered exporters in Japan,with automakers and tech shares posting big declines. Honda Motor Co. lost 3.6 per cent,and Nissan Motor Co. fell 3.9 per cent.

The euro sank to 109.47 yen at one point overnight to hit its lowest level since late 2001.

Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan told reporters today that he is closely monitoring currency markets and that excessive appreciation of the yen is undesirable,according to Kyodo news agency.

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Thursday in New York,the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 3.6 per cent to 10,068.01 in its biggest point drop since February 2009. The Samp;P 500 fell 3.9 per cent to 1,071.59,and the Nasdaq composite index plunged 4.1 per cent to 2,204.01.

Oil prices resumed their swoon as concerns over the European economy had traders bailing out of energy commodities. Benchmark crude for July delivery was down 50 cents at USD 70.30 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In currencies,the dollar rose to 89.95 yen from 89.06 yen late Thursday. The dollar had been trading near 92-yen levels earlier this week. The euro rose to USD 1.2631 from USD 1.2465.