Asian markets down at opening after US rout

Asian markets opened sharply down after another heavy rout on Wall Street, as the US called on the G-20 countries to meet in Washington on the global financial crisis.

In Japan the Nikkei stock index tumbled more than seven percent in early trade on Thursday, hitting the lowest level in more than five years as fears grew of a global recession.

The Nikkei-225 lost 658.08 points, or 7.59 percent, to 8,016.61, levels last seen in May 2003.

The plunge came after the Dow Jones index plummeted 5.69 percent overnight on Wall Street.

South Korean shares also fell in early trading, with the KOSPI index losing 6.3 percent to sink 71.45 points to 1,063.14.

Shares on the Straits Times Index in Singapore dropped 4.12 percent in early trade, falling 75.07 points to 1,746.06.

A similar story in Australia saw share prices fall 4.3 percent, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropping 178.0 points to 3,978.1.

The downturn reflected the chaos on Wall Street Wednesday as panic-selling set in to global stock markets, with the broad US S&P 500 index crumbling 6.1 percent.

News that world leaders are to meet in Washington next month at a summit to discuss the global financial crisis failed to halt the panic sell-off that accelerated in late US trading.

In falls reminiscent of the worst of the turbulence of the last few weeks, prompted by gloomy outlooks and weak company results, European markets on Wednesday lost four to five percent while the Dow closed down 509.83 points at 8,523.83.

In Brazil, regulators suspended trade on the Sao Paulo stock exchange after the main Bovespa index plunged more than 10 percent, mirroring the turmoil in fellow Latin American nation Argentina. After an automatic "cooling off" period of 30 minutes, the market reopened and eventually closed down 10.18 percent.

The White House announced that leaders of the Group of 20 rich and emerging countries would gather in Washington on November 15, extending efforts to coordinate responses to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"The president today is going to invite the leaders of a group of 20 countries ... to discuss the financial markets and the global economy," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

"The leaders will review progress being made to address the current financial crisis, advance a common understanding of its causes and in order to avoid a repetition, agree on a common set of principles for reform of the regulatory and institutional regimes for the world's financial sectors."

The announcement came as one of Bush's closest allies, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, acknowledged his country was "likely" entering recession.

"Having taken action on the banking system, we must now take action on the global financial recession, which is likely to cause recession in ... Britain, too," Brown said in parliament.

Crucial data is expected to show on Friday that the British economy shrank in the third quarter after zero growth in the second. The technical definition of a recession is two straight quarters of negative economic growth.

A similarly gloomy forecast came from Swiss bank UBS, which said Europe faced "inevitable" recession that would begin "almost in sync" with the United States.

The British pound plunged to a five-year trough, closing in New York at 1.6139 dollars. The euro took a pummeling, too, falling below 1.30 dollars for the first time since February 2007 amid interest rate cut expectations.

There were more signs of trouble in emerging markets, with South Africa's rand falling to a six-year low against the dollar.

Crude oil prices careened lower after surging US energy reserves highlighted falling demand in a cooling global economy.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December, skidded 5.43 dollars to close at 66.75 dollars a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery tumbled 5.20 dollars to settle at 64.52 dollars.

In Canada, the Toronto stock exchange shed 558.92 points, or 5.71 percent, to close at 9,236.68. Gold mining and oil shares led the retreat.

The turbulence came despite fresh attempts by the US Federal Reserve to restore confidence in the fragile financial system, and new evidence that the credit freeze might be thawing, with interbank lending rates showing modest declines.