Asian stock markets resume slide

Hong Kong: Asian stock markets resumed their downward slide on Monday, led by a 12 per cent plunge in the Philippines.

Investor confidence remained shaky as government rescue measures failed to ease fears that a global recession would be even worse than expected, analysts said.

The Philippine stock market's key index plummeted 12.3 per cent, to 1,713.83 points, triggering a circuit-breaker that stopped trading for 15 minutes.

India's Sensex fell in intraday trade to 528.62 points, or 6.08 per cent, to 8,172.45, its lowest level since November 2005.

"Investors aren't totally convinced the worst is over yet," said Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index pulled back 4.2 per cent.

Japanese shares retreated 5 per cent to 7,266.83, while South Korea's Kospi skidded 3.4 per cent even as the country's central bank slashed its key interest rate.

"This is the loss of confidence in the market," said Emmanuel Soller, broker at EquitiWorld Securities Inc. "But I believe there was an overreaction by investors."