Major Stock Markets in Asia Tumble

By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: March 17, 2008

TOKYO — Major Asian stock markets fell sharply Monday as pessimism continued to spread despite the Fed’s dramatic moves over the weekend, sending Tokyo’s benchmark index to a three-year low.

The markets responded negatively to the purchase of Bear Stearns over the weekend by JPMorgan Chase. The acquisition, backed by the Federal Reserve, underscored the severity of the credit crisis in the United States and the weakness of the American economy.

In Tokyo, the region’s largest stock exchange, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index was trading at an almost three-year low. The index closed down nearly four percent, finishing the day at 11,787.51, falling below 12,000 for the first time since August 2005.

Elsewhere in Asia in mid-day trading, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index was also down 2.4 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.4 percent, and in New Zealand, the NZX 50 index dropped 1.9 percent.

The declines in Tokyo came even as the Japanese central bank, the Bank of Japan, moved to shore up financial markets by injecting $4.1 billion into short-term money markets.

Asian stocks have also been hurt by the weakness of the dollar, which erodes the value in local currencies of overseas profits and forces big exporters like Toyota and Sony to raise prices in foreign markets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/world ... ref=slogin