Asian markets tumble after Wall Street plunge

TOKYO _ Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday following massive overnight losses on Wall Street and dismal economic numbers out of the U.S., a crucial export market.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average shed 4.6 percent to 8,011.69, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 4.9 percent to 13,419.40.

Global markets had rallied last week, but any nascent investor confidence quickly wilted after grim U.S. economic data sent the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting nearly 700 points -- or 7.7 percent -- Monday, wiping out more than half of last week's big gains.

"A string of weak economic data really depressed sentiment," said Yutaka Miura, a senior strategist at Shinko Securities in Tokyo. "Investors are becoming more pessimistic over the state of the global economy."

Australia's central bank slashed its key interest rate Monday a full percentage point to 4.25 percent as it tries to prevent the economy from contracting. The global financial crisis has taken Australia's economy from boom times to the verge of recession in a matter of months, and policymakers are throwing billions of dollars at the economy to try to stop it from tipping over the edge. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 3.2 percent at 3,564.4.

Markets in the Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea also dropped.

Among major regional markets, only Singapore and mainland China rose.

U.S. stocks first slid on initial reports that the first weekend of the holiday shopping season, while better than some retailers and analysts feared, saw only modest gains. Downbeat reports on the manufacturing sector and construction spending further unnerved investors.

Then the National Bureau of Economic Research, considered the arbiter of when the economy is in recession or expanding, said the U.S. recession had begun a year ago, in December 2007.

The problems facing the U.S. manufacturing sector were reflected in similar surveys earlier for the euro-zone and Britain. European shares also fell sharply Monday.

Japanese exporters have been hurting from the yen's renewed appreciation, which erodes their overseas earnings. The dollar was trading at 93.54 yen from 93.18 late Monday. The euro stood at $1.2629 from $1.2597.

U.S. stock index futuers were up, suggesting Wall Street would bounce back Tuesday. Dow futures were up 56 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,195, while S&P 500 futures were up 5.2 points, or 0.6 percent, to 820.