Asian markets plunged Friday after another overnight drop on Wall Street that was spurred by news about rising foreclosures on U.S. mortgages, AP reported. That intensified concerns about the U.S. credit crisis and broader economy, a vital export market for Asian companies. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 2.9 percent to close at 12,830.99, paring earlier losses. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX200 index sank 3.2 percent while in Seoul the Korea Stock Price Index declined 2 percent. In afternoon trading, Hong Hong's Hang Seng index was down 2.9 percent, and India's benchmark Sensex fell 3.5 percent. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index was down a more moderate 1.7 percent. Worries about further fallout from the U.S. credit crisis grew Thursday after the Mortgage Bankers Association said the proportion of all mortgages nationwide that fell into foreclosure jumped to a record 0.83 percent in the final quarter of 2007. Separately, the Federal Reserve reported that Americans' home debt exceeded their equity for the first time since the central bank began tracking the figures in 1945. Homeowners' percentage of equity fell to 47.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.75 percent Thursday to 12,040.39. «We are worried about the U.S. market,» Shim Jae-youb, a strategist at Meritz Securities Co. in Seoul. He also said that signs of spreading turmoil in U.S. credit markets, including the potential for defaults, was weighing on sentiment. Investors were also bracing for a key U.S. jobs report later Friday. Economists on average were predicting a modest gain in February payrolls, though some expect a decline. Shim of Meritz said that investors were «pessimistic» about the how the report would turn out. Traders said that more bearishness could be expected. «We still have some downside left in the market, which is sad to say, but that's the way it is looking trend-wise, it is still looking heavy,» CMC Markets senior dealer Dominic Vaughan said of Australia's market.
