Asian Market Falls On Weak U.S. Outlook

October 22, 2008 6:18 a.m. EST

Hong Kong (AHN) - Asian stocks slid Wednesday led by Tokyo's Nikkei dropping five percent, as investors weigh in fears of weak profits of major U.S. companies.

Wednesday's dismal performance in Asia follows a weak trading in Wall Street on Tuesday. By afternoon, the Nikkei lost almost 6 percent and Australia's All Ordinaries index slumped 3.2 percent.

The biggest loser was South Korea's KOSPI, sliding over 8 percent while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.9 percent.

The Taiwan Weighted gave up 1.5 percent. In Singapore, the Straits Times index was off 3.6 percent.

In India, Mumbai's BSE SENSEX had given up nearly 3 percent of its value.

Even as the global credit markets are showing some signs of revitalization, the main focus now is the profit outlook of major U.S. companies, as well as American corporate earnings after news that DuPont Co., Sun Microsystems and Caterpillar Inc. all issued revised target earnings in the next months.