CBS Marketwatch is reporting on the early Tuesday trading in the Asian markets.
Read and weep, my friends:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 6.2% to 22,347.02 in the early minutes, after tumbling 5.5% in the previous session. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index plummeted 8.1% to 12,440.57.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average tumbled 3.9% to 12,800.90, while the broader Topix index skidded 3.5% to 1,248.61. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 extended losses into the 12th straight session, slumping 5% to 5,303.70 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 2.6% at 3,553.20, while South Korea's Kospi shed 3.9% at 1,617.23.
China's Shanghai Composite, which fell more than 5% in the previous session, sank 2.6% to 4,783.42, while Taiwan's Weighted index tumbled 5.6% to 7,658.71.
Guess what? Those figures were as of 9pm EST. In the past hour or so, these markets have declined even further.
Now for the really bad news...from 357 EST this afternoon:
If futures contracts traded on a day when U.S. stocks weren't even due to open are anything near accurate, then markets will be in for a major decline on Tuesday, with concerns about bond insurers and the health of financial institutions dragging markets lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract was recently off 520 points at 11,586, the Nasdaq futures were at 1773.25, down 76.25, and the Standard & Poor's 500 futures recently were at 1265, down 60.3.
Futures contract don't move in complete lockstep to the underlying indexes, but by comparison, the Dow industrials fell 382 points on Sept. 20, 2001, just days after the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, and by 387 points on Aug. 9, 2007, shortly after the recent credit crunch first emerged.
Keep in mind, the futures were down based on Monday's foreign stock dip. How do you think Tuesday's foreign stock dip will impact the US stocks tomorrow?
Hugs and kisses, hopes and prayers to those with their hard-earned savings in stocks, mutual funds, and 401 (k) plans.
UPDATED 121 am - Update from CBS Marketwatch
India's Sensitive Index was sharply lower as trading resumed in Mumbai, after being halted for an hour. The session was halted when the index dropped more than 11% in the early minutes. Losses eased to 6.4%, but then slid back to more than 10%. Officials said trading would be halted for two hours if the index losses hit 15%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 average tumbled 5.4% to 12,612.86, while the broader Topix index skidded 5.5% to 1,222.96 in afternoon trading. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei dropped as low as 12,572.68 -- its lowest level since September 2005.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 8% to 21,904.13 as the sell-off deepened from the previous session, when it tumbled 5.5%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index plummeted 11.8% to 11,937.25. See related story.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 extended losses into the 12th straight session, slumping 5.5% to 5,186.80 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index ran its losses into the 14th session, dropping 1.1% at 3,607.13, while South Korea's Kospi shed 5% at 1,599.68.
UPDATED 338 am - CBS MARKETWATCH ON EUROPEAN MARKETS TUES OPEN
The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP: news, chart, profile) fell 2.6% to 300.73, after a 5.7% drop on Monday.
The U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX: news, chart, profile) dropped 1.6% to 5,491.20, the German DAX 30 index (DX:1876534: news, chart, profile) slumped 4.5% to 6,484.55 and the French CAC-40 index (FR:1804546: news, chart, profile) slid 2.8% to 4,613.79.
"The market appears to have decided that U.S. recession is inevitable and that Europe will not avoid the fallout," said Gareth Williams, strategist at ING. He said the losses were too severe, saying his model produces "an unambiguous buy signal for European stocks."
On Monday, several major European indexes, including London's FTSE 100 and the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index, recorded their biggest one-day loss since the terrorist attacks in New York in 2001 amid growing fears of a U.S. recession as investors reacted with disappointment to a plan to stimulate the U.S. economy.
AND THE MONEY QUOTE:
Futures contracts were pointing to a sharply weaker start for U.S. markets Tuesday against a grim backdrop of big losses on European markets and a second consecutive day of massive selling in Asia. See Asia Markets.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were recently down 649 points
UPDATE 844 AM - FEDS CUT RATE .75% IN ADVANCE OF MARKET OPEN
Hoping to prevent a market meltdown and recession, the Federal Reserve lowered its overnight lending rate by 75 basis points to 3.50% on Tuesday in a rare move between formal meetings.
The cut came after global financial markets sold off in dramatic fashion on fears that bad bets in credit markets could spread further and drive the U.S. economy into recession.