HONG KONG, Oct 10: Asian stock markets were hammered on Friday with Tokyo diving 11 per cent at one point as investors grew more concerned that the global credit crisis is getting out of control, dealers said.

Markets across the region plummeted into the red as dealers ignored a wave of interest rate cuts and billions of dollars of cash injections to sell their shares amid the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Investors took fright at news that the credit crisis has claimed its first Japanese financial institution with the bankruptcy of Yamato Life Insurance, pushing the Nikkei stock index down 9.6 per cent by the close.

It was the Nikkei’s biggest loss in two decades, surpassing Wednesday’s plunge of 9.38 per cent. The Nikkei has lost more than 24 per cent over the past week.

Hong Kong saw 7.2 per cent wiped off its value. The market there has fallen 16 per cent in the past week and 47 per cent since the start of the year.

Sydney was also battered, losing 8.3 per cent, its biggest fall since the 1987 crash. Singapore lost 7.34 per cent to its lowest level in more than four years as traders also took in data that showed the economy was in a technical recession. Seoul lost more than four per cent and Shanghai was 3.5 per cent off.

The heavy losses led Bangkok to suspend trading for half and hour after the bourse there dived more than 10 per cent. It closed the day down 9.6 per cent down.

And Jakarta, which closed Wednesday after falling by the same amount, was suspended for a third straight day.

The markets were following slumps in Wall Street, where the Dow Jones plunged 7.33 per cent overnight, closing below 9,000 points for the first time since 2003.

TOKYO: Japan’s Nikkei stock index plunged 9.62 per cent, dealers said.

Investors were spooked by news that the credit crunch has claimed its first victim among Japanese financial institutions with the bankruptcy of Yamato Life Insurance.

The Nikkei dived 881.06 points to end at 8,276.43, the lowest level since May 2003, while the Topix index of all first section shares sank 64.25 points, or 7.1 per cent, to 840.86.

Market watchers were not ruling out further losses for the Nikkei.

We can’t rule out the possibility of it falling below 8,000, Masayoshi Okamoto, a general manager at Jujiya Securities, said.

HONG KONG: Shares closed down 7.2 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 1,146.37 points at 14,796.87, its lowest closing figure since November 2005.

Turnover was 69.37 billion Hong Kong dollars (8.89 billion US).

All 42 companies that make up the Hang Seng Index ended the day lower.

Dealers were divided about whether the market has hit the bottom.

SYDNEY: Australian shares closed down 8.3 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 plunged 360.2 points to 3,960.7, breaking through the 4,000 barrier to its lowest close in more than five years, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 351.9 points to 3,939.4.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 7.34 per cent lower, dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index ended down 154.38 points at 1,948.33 -- its lowest close since September 2004.

Volume was 1.59 billion shares valued at 1.47 billion Singapore dollars (993.65 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 3.6 per cent lower, dealers said.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 34.88 points to 934.01, off a low of 931.79.

IOI Corp lost 8.0 per cent to 3.46, Sime Darby shed 3.0 per cent to 6.50 and Malayan Banking ended down 5.1 per cent at 5.55.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares dived 4.72 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 139.08 points to 2,805.31.

Telecom closed down nine cents at $2.56 and Fletcher Building plunged 8.29 per cent, or 53 cents, to 5.86.

Contact Energy dropped 10 cents to 7.20 dollars, investment company GPG fell five cents to 99 cents and infrastructure investor Infratil fell 10 cents to 1.89.

MUMBAI: Indian shares closed down 7.07 per cent, dealers said.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex index fell 800.51 points to 10,527.85.—AFP