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SINGAPORE: Singapore shares plunged early Tuesday after US stocks dived as US lawmakers rejected a massive financial bailout plan.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) fell 4.7 per cent, losing 111.06 points to 2,250.28 within first minutes of trading.
Some 212.9 million shares exchanged hands, with losers overwhelming gainers 262 to 21.
The STI had closed 2.08 per cent lower on Monday at 2,361.34 points.
Other Asian markets followed suit, with Japan’s Nikkei stock average falling 4.8 per cent to hit a new low for the year. The index tumbled more than 500 points to 11,160.83.
South Korea’s blue chip Kospi Index was down 4.7 per cent to 1387.51.
Australian shares slipped 5.4 per cent to 4,553.4, while New Zealand’s NZX-50 Index lost 4.2 per cent to 3,052.4.
Taiwanese shares opened 6.6 per cent lower, with the main TAIEX share index down 394.91 points at 5,534.72.
Wall Street blue-chip stocks suffered their worst single-day point decline on Monday as markets went into convulsions after US lawmakers rejected a massive rescue of the financial system.
The plunge came with investors already fretting over a deepening of banking sector problems in Europe and the United States, with at least three banks saved with government aid.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 777.68 points (6.98 per cent) to close at 10,365.45 in its biggest single-day point decline ever.
- CNA/yb
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