Asian stocks plunge on fears of global recession

TOKYO (AP) — A meltdown in confidence strangled Asian stock markets Wednesday on accelerating fears that the widening financial crisis could spawn a global recession.

After a miserable day on Wall Street when the Dow Jones industrials lost more than 500 points, investors from Tokyo to Mumbai, Seoul to Sydney dumped shares in a broad regional sell-off.

Anxious investors in Tokyo sent shares into a free-fall, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunging 9.4 percent — its biggest drop in 21 years — to 9,203.32, a five-year low.

MSM: Dow Drops 500 Points In Turbulent Trading

(CBS/AP) Wall Street has had yet another dismal day Tuesday, extending its heavy losses as investors’ worries about the financial sector wiped out early enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve’s efforts to inject confidence into the credit markets. Trading remained fractious and grew more turbulent in the last hour, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 500 points and all the major indexes falling more than 5 percent.