·Wall Street took one of it's biggest nosedives of the year Friday.
·Markets in HK, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines fell sharply.
·Markets plunged amid concerns about the U.S mortgage and corporate lending.
By Xinhua
Beijing : Wall Street took one of it's biggest nosedives of the year Friday and Asian took a tumble also with Japanese stocks taking a hit on the yen's strength and misgivings about weekend elections.
Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines also fell sharply as international investors bailed out of riskier assets, including Asian emerging markets.
Investors were rattled after U.S. markets plunged Thursday amid concerns about the U.S mortgage and corporate lending markets. But analysts said the sell-offs had more to do with a sudden change in sentiment than any direct link between Asian markets and U.S. subprime mortgage woes.
"If big foreign funds have selling orders, they tend to go by region. If they sell Asia funds, they do it to reevaluate portfolios or cover losses in the U.S.," said Rommel Macapagal, chairman of Westlink Global Equities.
"But for local investors, it's a sentiment. When big drops occur, they tend to get jittery because of expectation of foreign funds selling. They tend to get out," he said.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index sank 418.28 points, or 2.36 percent, to close at 17,283.81. At one point, the index fell nearly 3 percent before regaining some losses. Losers included Honda Motor Co., Toshiba Corp. and Nikon Corp.
Philippine stocks suffered their biggest percentage drop in 10 years Friday, sinking 3.9 percent. Taiwan's benchmark index fell even more, dropping 4.2 percent. In afternoon trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.9 percent, while Singapore's Straits Times index slid 3.2 percent.
In New York Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 311.50 points or 2.26 percent, to 13,473.57, its biggest point drop since Feb. 27, when a fall in the Shanghai stock market unnerved world exchanges.