Stocks plummeted across Asia for a second day on Tuesday on unrelenting fears that the US, Asias most important trading partner, is heading into recession.

Indian shares sank more than 11 per cent as the market opened, resulting in a one-hour trading suspension, and dropped as much as 13 per cent once trade resumed. Hong Kong had its worst two-day fall since the aftermath of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese groups slumped 12 per cent.

Investors in Japanese shares were also hounded by worries about economic growth at home, and the impact of an initially stronger yen. The Nikkei saw its worst two-day decline in nearly two decades, losing more than 5 per cent and falling below 13,000 for the first time since September 2005.

Australias S&P/ASX 200 recorded its biggest fall since the index was launched in 2000, closing 7.1 per cent lower. The drop compared with a 7.2 per cent fall in the rival All Ordinaries index in October 1997.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid by 6.8 percent to 131.63 by early evening in Tokyo. It has now fallen by 24 per cent since its peak in November, meaning that by one common standard, the region has followed Europe into a bear market.

The fall is serious for three reasons, said Ian Bright, from Pali International: “the extent of the fall, the breadth of the fall, and the fact that we cannot be sure how the reorganisation of the finance industry in the US and around the world is going to be.”

亚洲股市周二连续第二天全面暴跌，投资者对亚洲最重要贸易伙伴美国将陷入经济衰退的担心丝毫没有减弱。

印度股市开盘大跌逾11%，导致市场暂停交易一小时，恢复交易时跌幅高达13%。香港经历了1997-98年亚洲金融危机以来最大双日跌幅，在香港上市的中国股票暴跌12%。

日本股市投资者也受到担忧本国经济增长的困扰，以及日元开始走强的冲击。日经指数出现近20年来的最大双日跌幅，下跌超过5%，自2005年9月以来首次回到13000点下方。

澳大利亚的S&P/ASX 200指数收盘下跌7.1%，创下该指数自2000年推出以来的最大跌幅。在1997年10月，该指数的竞争对手All Ordinaries指数曾大跌7.2%。

截至东京时间周二傍晚，摩根士丹利资本国际亚太指数(MSCI Asia Pacific Index)下跌6.8%，至131.63点，已经较11月份的最高点下跌24%，意味着以一个共同的标准衡量，该地区已经步欧洲后尘，进入熊市。

巴利国际(Pali International)的伊安•布莱特(Ian Bright)表示，此次股市下跌的严重性体现在三个方面：“下跌幅度、下跌广度以及这样一个事实：我们不能确定美国和全球金融业的重组将如何演变。”