Asian stocks plunged on Friday, as the US dollar rose to a 14-month high against a group of major currencies, on panic that global efforts so far have failed to stop financial chaos from spreading.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei fell 10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 8%, South Korea's Kospi fell 7.4%, Shanghai's benchmark gave up 4.1%, Singapore's Straits was down 7% percent and Australia's ASX-200 fell 6.8%.
European stock markets slumped in early trading Friday following massive sell-offs on Wall Street and Asia as lending rates between banks continue to rise despite this week's efforts by central banks to break the logjam in credit markets.
The UK's FTSE was down 5.4%, Germany's DAX lost 7.9% and France's CAC-40 was fell 6.1%.
Wall Street ended Thursday's trading with yet another massive tumble, as The Dow Jones industrials lost a breathtaking 679 points – 7.3% - its lowest level in five years. The S&P-500 index also fell 7% percent. The NASDAQ ended trading losing 5.47%.
AP, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report
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