Asian stocks today discontinued their two-day gaining stint with key indices in the region dropping between two to four per cent, amid fears of prolonged slowdown in global markets.
The Asian bourses followed cues from the American markets, which failed to hold on to their initial gains and closed in the red.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was trading down 2.29 per cent at 16,447.62 points in the last afternoon trade, while Korean Kospi Index dropped two per cent to 1,340.28 points.
India's benchmark index Sensex plunged over four per cent amid heavy profit-booking and was trading below the 11,000 level in the afternoon trade.
Besides, Singapore's Strait Times was trading down 2.14 per cent at 2,082.71 points and China's Shanghai SE Composite index was trading 1.30 per cent in the red at 1,991.18 points.
However, Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading in the positive territory amid Japanese Government announcing that it would provide monetary support to the IMF to tackle the global financial crisis.
Nikkei 225 was trading up 1.06 per cent at 9,547.47 points in the afternoon trade after falling to an intra-day low of 9,269.49 points.
US bellwether index Dow Jones Industrial Average had yesterday closed down 0.82 per cent, while Nasdaq composite had settled down 3.54 per cent.
