Markets Tumble in Asia

Asian markets began the last full trading week before Christmas deep in the red, as indices throughout the region sold off sharply with investors continuing to ease their holdings ahead of the New Year and global credit concerns causing worry.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng plunged 967 points, or 3.5%, to 26,596, giving away nearly all of its gains for the month, while in China, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 126 points, or 2.5%, to 4881. In India, the Bombay Sensitive Index fell the furthest, by 769 points, or 3.8%, to 19,261, in the second-biggest point decline to date.

"No one wants to do anything now, and that's logical. Why would anyone?" says John Koh, a director at MEAG in Hong Kong. "We closed our books a few weeks ago because we didn't want to take further risk in the market."

In India, HDFC Bank(HBD) lost 1.7% to 1,728 rupees, while Icici Bank(IBN) shed 2.9% to 1,206 rupees. Infosys(INFY) and Wipro(WIT) fell between 1.5% and 2.1% in late trading, as shares tracked other Asian losses.

In Japan, the Nikkei sank 265 points, or 1.7%, to 15,249, as Japan's three megbanks were reported to be reluctant to provide a requested $15 billion in funds to a U.S. subprime rescue fund.

Despite acknowledging that they are affected by subprime-related losses, the big banks, Mitsubishi UFJ(MTU), Mizuho Financial(MFG) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial(SMFJY) feel that they are being asked to shoulder too large a portion of the $60 billion fund set up by U.S. counterparts Citigroup(C), Bank of America(BAC) and JPMorgan Chase(JPM), according to local reports.