Equity investors across Asia once again scrambled for the door yesterday, leaving bludgeoned markets in their wake.
From New Zealand to India, stock markets suffered further heavy falls and there appeared to be no end in sight to the region-wide sell-off, brokers said.
Concerns over Russia's deepening financial woes, a volatile yen and fears of a possible meltdown on Wall Street following steep losses on Thursday made a cocktail too strong for many to swallow, they said.
There were growing concerns the Asian crisis could turn into a global slump. If the United States and European economies fell, then there was little hope for East Asia's supposed export-led recovery, economists said.
Independent Economic Analysis economist Jimmy Koh said: 'It is quite scary.' Some East Asian stock markets tumbled nearly 6 per cent yesterday.
Thailand's stock market hit a fresh 11-year low, Singapore and Malaysian stocks touched new 10-year lows, Philippine shares fell to six-year lows and Taiwan shares slumped to their lowest levels in 21 months.