Shares tumbled in Asia on Tuesday after a wild day for U.S. markets that resulted in the biggest drop in the Dow Jones industrial average in six and a half years, AP reported.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 7.1 percent to 21,087.71 by early Tuesday afternoon. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 5.0 percent to 30,628.22 and Australia's benchmark S&P ASX 200 slid 3.4 percent to 5,820.20. South Korea's Kospi declined 2.4 percent to 2,431.88 and the Shanghai Composite index was off 2.2 percent at 3,412.55.
All other regional markets were lower.
The losses in Asia tracked the Dow's 1,175 point plunge on Monday, its worst point drop of all time and its worst percentage decline since August 2011.
The Dow finished down 4.6 percent at 24,345.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, the benchmark most professional investors and many index funds use, sank 4.1 percent, to 2,648.94. That was its biggest loss since August 2011, when stocks were reeling as investors fretted over European government debt and the U.S. credit rating was downgraded after the debt ceiling impasse.
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The Nasdaq composite fell 3.8 percent to 6,967.53. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks sank 3.6 percent to 1,491.09.
On Tuesday, oil prices were steady. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 71 cents to $63.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, it gave up $1.30 to $64.15 per barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, shed 73 cents to $66.89 per barrel.
