Asian Stocks Plunge on US Slowdown Worries

Renewed anxiety over the US sub-prime crisis and Friday's Wall Street slump ignited a stock dump in Asian markets today, hammering the Japanese Topix index to a two-year low and sending the dollar’s value against the yen to its lowest point in 18 months. Hong Kong’s Hang Sang index in Hong Kong, was down 3.9%, and South Korea’s Kospi index fell 3.4%, the New York Times reports.

The dollar’s 6% drop in the past month has pushed down share prices for companies like Canon and Toyota, which rely on exports to the US. It’s also caused Japanese investors to withdraw from US markets. "There's a worldwide flow of capital out of stocks until the American real estate market problems blow over,” said one analyst. (More Japan stories.)