Nikkei drops 4 per cent as Hang Seng loses 2.4 due, among other things, to lower factory-orders in US and China, as well as cuts to the Fed's stimulus.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Stocks plunge in Kong and Tokyo, dragging the regional index toward its lowest close in five months

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.6 per cent.

In Tokyo, Japan's Topix index plunged as much as 4.4 per cent and the Hang Seng Index slid 2.4 per cent in Hong Kong. The Kospi Index in Seoul declined 1.7 per cent.

Asia's poor performance reflects the negative trend in New York yesterday when the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 2 per cent.

For experts, the decline follows lower US factory-orders and slower Chinese growth, cuts to US stimulus by the Federal Reserve and the economic repercussions of unrest in emerging markets from Thailand to Ukraine.

Industry analysts say that it will take weeks before markets stabilise.

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