HONG KONG: Asian stocks hit their lowest in nearly seven weeks on Monday, while the dollar was near a record low against the euro and an eight-year low against the yen after weak employment data fuelled US recession fears.
Malaysian stocks were among the region's biggest decliners, falling as much as 7.6 per cent to a seven-month low after the ruling coalition suffered its worst election result in decades.
Inflationary pressures remain a concern around Asia. Data on Monday showed South Korean producer prices rose 6.8 per cent in February from a year before, the biggest gain in over three years, while Chinese producer prices were up 6.6 per cent.
Oil prices remained near a record high despite the worsening global economic outlook, held up by cold weather in parts of the United States, while gold moved back above $975 an ounce.
"We keep hearing bad news, and expect to receive more unfavourable sets of data and figures for some time. Markets will continue to test the bottom in the meantime," said Kim Joong-hyun, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities in Seoul.
The MSCI measure of Asian stocks outside Japan was down 2.4 per cent by 0338 GMT after hitting its lowest since January 23.
The prospects of a US recession and worsening global credit conditions have hit Asian stocks hard this year, with the MSCI index down 14 per cent as of last week, worse than the 12 per cent fall in the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 or the 10 per cent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Exporters such as Sony Corp, which depend on US consumers, dropped after data published on Friday showing US employers unexpectedly cut jobs last month at the steepest rate in nearly five years.
Financial firms fell on concerns about more writedowns worldwide after US housing loan provider Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Friday it could not meet its own lenders' demands for $610 million of cash or collateral.
"The subprime problem is a creeping disease. It initially infected relatively few people, but the contagion has spread to a much greater portion of the credit market," MF Global analyst Edward Meir said.
Japan's Nikkei average hit its lowest level since September 2005 and was down 1.6 per cent at 0418 GMT.
Shares in China, Taiwan and Singapore were down more than 2 per cent, while stock markets in South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia were down nearly 2 per cent.
China Railway Construction made a weaker-than-expected Shanghai debut after raising a combined $5.4 billion in a dual listing with Hong Kong in the world's largest initial public offering this year.
Malaysian stocks were among the region's biggest decliners, falling as much as 7.6 per cent to a seven-month low after the ruling coalition suffered its worst election result in decades.
Inflationary pressures remain a concern around Asia. Data on Monday showed South Korean producer prices rose 6.8 per cent in February from a year before, the biggest gain in over three years, while Chinese producer prices were up 6.6 per cent.
Oil prices remained near a record high despite the worsening global economic outlook, held up by cold weather in parts of the United States, while gold moved back above $975 an ounce.
"We keep hearing bad news, and expect to receive more unfavourable sets of data and figures for some time. Markets will continue to test the bottom in the meantime," said Kim Joong-hyun, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities in Seoul.
The MSCI measure of Asian stocks outside Japan was down 2.4 per cent by 0338 GMT after hitting its lowest since January 23.
The prospects of a US recession and worsening global credit conditions have hit Asian stocks hard this year, with the MSCI index down 14 per cent as of last week, worse than the 12 per cent fall in the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 or the 10 per cent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Exporters such as Sony Corp, which depend on US consumers, dropped after data published on Friday showing US employers unexpectedly cut jobs last month at the steepest rate in nearly five years.
Financial firms fell on concerns about more writedowns worldwide after US housing loan provider Thornburg Mortgage Inc said on Friday it could not meet its own lenders' demands for $610 million of cash or collateral.
"The subprime problem is a creeping disease. It initially infected relatively few people, but the contagion has spread to a much greater portion of the credit market," MF Global analyst Edward Meir said.
Japan's Nikkei average hit its lowest level since September 2005 and was down 1.6 per cent at 0418 GMT.
Shares in China, Taiwan and Singapore were down more than 2 per cent, while stock markets in South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia were down nearly 2 per cent.
China Railway Construction made a weaker-than-expected Shanghai debut after raising a combined $5.4 billion in a dual listing with Hong Kong in the world's largest initial public offering this year.
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