Asian markets plunge in record terms

A sell off of more than 5% in the US markets saw Asian markets plunge in record terms. Japan's Nikkei Index lost 9.4% in to close at 9,203 points while the Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 8% at 14,432 points.

Closer home India's BSE Sensex was down more than 3% while the regions' biggest loser was Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index, which lost more than 10% when the regulators suspended trading in the market.

In Europe most opened down with the FTSE -100 down by 4%, Germany's Dax down 6% and France's CAC - 40 down 5%. Benelux countries were no better with the Netherland's AEX-Index and Belgium's BEL-20 both down 6%, while Luxembourg's LuxX down 10%.

The day's worst performer was the Russian markets with the Micex down 14% on opening so far.

Dow Jones Futures traded in European markets indicate the US market is in for another routing.

In Colombo the picture was equally bleak with the ASPI losing 64 points (-3%) to close at 2,043 and the MPI lost 83 points (-3.6%) to close at 2,259. Dialog hit a day low of Rs 6.50, but recovered to close at Rs 7.00, down 9.7%.

Sri Lanka Telecom closed at RS 40.50, while Distilleries closed at Rs 65.75.

John Keells Holdings closed flat at Rs 80.00. Turnover for the day was Rs 215 million, mainly on the back of Janashakthi Insurance which saw Rs 104 million worth of shares changing hands.

Ceylinco Insurance (Rs 19.1 million) and Maskeliya Plantations (Rs 18 million) also were the other highly traded stocks.