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Asian markets caught in global rout Asian markets caught in global rout
(about 1 hour later)
Markets in Australia, Japan and Korea are tracking losses on Wall Street. Asian markets headed lower on Tuesday as falling oil prices heightened global growth fears and weighed on investors' risk appetite.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed more than 270 points at the open on Tuesday, taking the index below the 17,000 mark and hovering around 16,804 points. Leading the losses, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2% to close at its lowest level since 31 October.
In Australia the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is seeing its sixth consecutive session of declines - the index is lower by 20 points or 0.4%. The index was at 16,755.32, while the dollar was at 117.42 yen against 117.81 yen in New York trading.
Overnight on Wall Street all the major indexes closed lower. Data showing China's manufacturing activity contracting in December weighed on shares in Hong Kong.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 100 points or 0.58% to close at 17,180.84. The HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index initial reading fell to 49.5 in December from November's final reading of 50.
The broad-based S&P 500 gave up 13 points or 0.63% to close at 1,989.63. The Hang Seng index was down 1.1% at 22,767.56, while the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend to rise 2.2% to 3,017.49.
The tech stock-heavy Nasdaq declined 1.04% to 4,605.16. Construction stocks got a boost after the country's top economic planning agency gave approval to plans for a second international airport in the capital Beijing.
Most of the fall has been attributed to the continuing decline in oil prices, which have hit new five-and-a-half-year lows on worries about excess supplies.
"Weakness in oil prices is contributing to the Wall Street slump. Global markets are still in a correction phase, with Japan feeling the fallout," Hiroichi Nishi from Nikko Securities told Dow Jones Newswires.
US crude fell 3.3% to $55.91 per barrel.
Russia is a net exporter of oil, and the recent Western sanctions have hit the economy hard.
Russia's central bank made the dramatic move of hiking its key lending rate from 10.5% to 17%, in an effort to stem the slide in the rouble.
Since the start of the year the Russian currency has lost more than 45% of its value against the US dollar.
Rest of Asia
In Greater China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened Tuesday's session lower, losing around 120 points or 0.5%.
On the mainland the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 3 points at the start of trade.
Construction stocks could get a boost, after the country's top economic planning agency gave approval to plans for a second international airport in the capital Beijing.
The expansion will cost $12.9bn and is aimed at easing air traffic congestion at the capital's main airport.The expansion will cost $12.9bn and is aimed at easing air traffic congestion at the capital's main airport.
In South Korea, the benchmark Kospi lost 11 points in early trade, hovering around 1,909 points. Shares of China State Construction Engineering rose 0.5%.
In Australia, shares closed at a 10-month low as falling commodity dragged down resources stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.7% to 5,152.3 - its lowest close since 6 February. It also marked the sixth consecutive session of declines.
South Korean shares fell, closing just above a two-month low. The Kospi ended down 0.2% at 1,904.13 points.