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The Australian stock market hemorrhaged more than 3 per cent in early trading today, following heavy falls on Wall Street overnight.
The Australian sharemarket rout extends the run of losses beyond 10 per cent, representing A$150bn in value wiped out so far this year.
The 10-day losing streak marks the longest in Australian sharemarket history.
BHP Billiton lost as much as A$2 to A$34.50, Rio Tinto fell A$8.60 to A$110 and Commonwealth Bank sank A$1.22 to A$50.31.
Japan
Japan's benchmark stock averages fell more than 2 per cent today, amid growing fears of a US recession.
Toyota Motor Corp and Sony Corp were flooded with sell orders as the yen gained against the dollar.
As of 1pm (NZT), the Nikkei was down 2.6 per cent at 13,432.03 and the broader TOPIX index was down 2.5 per cent at 1,298.13.
NZ sliding badly
In New Zealand, the benchmark NZX-50 index dived another 2.2 percent today, extending its losing streak to 12 days.
Not one stock in the top 50 index was up in trading on the NZX this morning.
Market leader Telecom was down 13c to $4.00, No 2, Fletcher Building down 25c to $9.95 and No.3 stock, Contact Energy was down 15c to $7.60.
US plunge
Wall St plunged further this morning (NZ time), sending the S&P 500 down more than 2 per cent and driving the Dow industrial average down more than 1,000 points since the start of 2008, as investors worried about the outlook for the US economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 237.20 points, or 1.91 per cent, at 12,228.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 30.49 points, or 2.22 per cent, at 1,342.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 34.05 points, or 1.42 per cent, at 2,360.54.
Merrill Lynch & Co fueled more concerns about the health of the financial sector when it reported about US$16 billion in mortgage-related write-downs and adjustments in the worst quarter in the company's history.
Shares of Merrill plummeted on the news.
"The US economy is slowing drastically," said Peter Jankovskis, director of research at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.
"And more write-down news from Merrill just raises the question, when is the last one going to occur?"
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated that the Fed was ready to employ a "fiscal stimulus package" to counter recession risks.
"The fact Mr Bernanke is urging Congress to enact stimulus is just one more piece of evidence for people who believe the economy is heading for recession," Jankovskis said. "If he is doing that, things must be difficult."
Investors were also hit with more bad news on housing as a government report showed that building permits for new homes last month slumped to the slowest figure since 1993.
Fears that a US recession may lie ahead has roiled global stock markets in recent weeks.
A Reuters poll of 250 economists from the Group of Seven major developed economies today said the United States now faces a 45 per cent chance of recession.
- REUTERS, NZPA, AAP