Japanese shares had their biggest one-day fall since 1987 in a grey day for Asian equities as fears deepened that more financial institutions would fail after the IMF said the global banking sector may need $675bn of fresh capital.
Many markets took their cue from the S&P 500's 5.7 per cent drop on Wall Street overnight. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 8.2 per cent – its biggest one-day fall since 1973 – to take it below half its peak level of just over a year ago, at 15,431.73.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it would cut rates by 100 basis points to try to contain the effects of the credit crisis. The central banks of Japan and Australia pumped more than $15bn between them into the money markets to encourage interbank lending.