Bloodbath in Asian markets as Dow plummets

A seventh day of devastating falls on Wall Street triggered yet more panic in Asian markets this morning, with Tokyo facing its biggest one-day drop since the 1987 stock market crash and Singapore going into recession. The fear reverberated across Asia and the selling was brutally swift with every market dropping hard at the opening, taking the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks excluding Japan down 3.5 percent to its lowest since June 2005. Oil prices fell to a new 12-month low below 84 U.S. dollars a barrel amid concerns an economic slowdown would weaken demand. Even calls by some OPEC members to cut output to shore up prices failed to instill confidence. The mood in markets took its tone from Wall Street where U.S. stocks plummeted as investors bet recent worldwide moves to try to thaw frozen credit markets would be... [read full story]