Asian markets get the Wall St jitters

Asian markets tumbled today as investors reacted nervously to a steep decline on Wall Street on Friday after disappointing economic and corporate news renewed worries the US economy was sliding into a recession.

Japan’s benchmark index sank as much as 4%, while Australia’s market fell 3% as did those in South Korea and Hong Kong before slightly paring losses.

Investors in Asia dumped shares after a series of depressing economic and corporate reports on Friday out of the United States – a vital export market for Asia – sent the Dow Jones industrial average falling 315.79, or 2.51%, to 12,266.39.

The bad news included poor quarterly results from American International Group Inc. and Dell Inc. and weaker-than-expected results on the Chicago purchasing managers index.