Helpless investors count the costs

Sydney/Hong Kong: Shell-shocked investors from Melbourne to Mumbai counted the cost to their pensions and savings as Asian stock markets tumbled on fears that recession in the United States would rock the rest of the world.

"I just feel sick, very sick," said retired IT manager Peter Hurst, 61, from Melbourne, who relies on investment income as well as his pension.

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside of Japan fell as much as eight per cent on Tuesday, with India crashing nearly 13 per cent at one point and Australia suffering its biggest one-day fall ever, ending down seven per cent.

The rout followed big losses in Europe on Monday and signals in the futures market that New York would see a sharp fall when it reopens after Monday's holiday in the United States.

"It's like a funeral in here," said Ken Masuda, senior equities dealer at Shinko Securities in Tokyo, where the Nikkei lost 5.7 per cent in its biggest one-day drop since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"No one knows what's going to happen tonight in New York. It's like we've gone blind, you don't know what's coming... all we can do is sell," Masuda said.

Frenzied trading by worried investors caused Australian online broker Commonwealth Securities' website to seize up, while the South Korean exchange suspended automated trading and India's market was suspended briefly after sharp falls.

"Most of your gains you make in a year, you lose in one day. If you're caught in the market, you lose your pants. Now, cash is king," said Robin Lim, 43, a seafood trader in Singapore.

Situation is bad

Goh Seng Hiang, 70, a Singapore retiree, said he'd lost about S$50,000 ($34,428) so far this year. "The situation is bad, I'll become a piece of deadwood soon. I'm waiting to re-enter but probably after a month or two," he said.

Hopes that surging Asian economies led by China and India meant that the region had "decoupled" from the United States have turned in recent weeks to fear that no markets can hide from the woes of the world's biggest economy.

"This market is deadly - you'd better stay out of it," warned retired sales manager Peter Chan, 64, who sat with other stock punters at a brokerage in bustling central Hong Kong.