Asian stocks dive as panic sweeps markets

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Money mkts near paralysed, no relief seenAsian stocks dive as panic sweeps marketsAsian investors jittery on US bailout failureOil rebounds after third day of heavy falls

Tokyo, September 30: : Stocks plunged in Asia on Tuesday as fears of escalating financial turmoil triggered panic selling on world markets after the US policymakers unexpectedly shot down a US financial rescue plan.

In Tokyo and Hong Kong stocks fell nearly five per cent despite calls from policymakers for markets to keep their cool after a record plunge on Wall Street.

The shock rejection by Congress of the 700-billion-dollar bailout package raised fears of a deepening of the financial and economic turmoil that has rocked global markets and brought down some of the world's top banks.

Investors rushed to dump equities and move into safe havens such as bonds and gold. In Tokyo the Nikkei plunged by almost five per cent to hit a three-year low, before clawing back slightly.

Hong Kong share prices opened down 5.6 per cent. Taipei lost 6.2 per cent, while Seoul slumped five percent before pulling back to end 2.9 per cent off at midday. Sydney tumbled more than five percent at one point before recovering some of the losses.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 777.68 points to 10,365.45 in its biggest single-day point decline ever. The slide eclipsed a 684-point drop on September 17, 2001, when the markets reopened following the September 11 terror attacks. In percentage terms, the blue-chip drop was the 17th worst on record.