Asian stocks tumble despite US bailout deal

Asian stocks tumbled Monday despite a deal being reached in Washington on a massive bailout plan for the US finance market and as the global credit crisis spread to Europe.
Lawmakers in the US finally brokered a deal Sunday to make available 700 billion dollars to save the world's biggest economy from the worst slump since the 1930s depression.
The plan, which was only agreed after days of bitter wrangling between Democrats and Republicans, was initially welcomed in Asia but that soon turned to concern.
Hong Kong slid 4.3 percent, Tokyo closed 1.26 percent off, Sydney shed two percent and Seoul gave up 1.35 percent. Singapore lost 2.08 percent.
Chinese markets are closed for the week for a national holiday, while Taipei was shut due to Typoon Jangmi.
Many traders were worried about the deal in Washington, which needs to be approved by Congress and offers no guarantee of an end to the credit crunch that has ravaged global markets, dealers said.
"Lawmakers continue to be anxious about being taken for a ride and want to retain a degree of control," Jan Lambregts, head of research for Asia at Rabobank Global Financial Markets, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"The risk of a staggered or phased approach is that the punch is weakened too much and the crisis allowed to linger."
The US plan, announced just hours before Asian markets opened, is designed to mop up toxic debts from struggling banks and prevent further financial chaos that could tip the world's largest economy into recession.
Although fears about the US financial crisis are easing, "investors still want to see details of a bailout," Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC, said.
In a bid to boost liquidity the Japanese central bank pumped 1.9 trillion yen (18 billion dollars) into the market, the ninth consecutive business day it has flooded the system with money. The Australian central bank also poured money into its market.
There were also concerns over the European finance sector after Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance group Fortis was forced to seek a government bailout, while Britain announced it would nationalise troubled mortgage lender Bradford and Bingley.
Meanwhile German banks extended a life-saving multi-billion-euro credit line to Hypo Real Estate (HRE), and small Danish bank Bonusbanken was rescued by Vestjysk bank.
"We know that we are most likely to avoid a meltdown in the US financial sector, but what matters now is negative news from new regions," said Motomi Hiratsuka, a trader at BNP Paribas.
In other markets Manila was up 0,4 percent, Bangkok lost 2.86 percent, Kuala Lumpur slid 0.1 percent and Jakarta shed 0.7 percent. New Zealand was flat.
In late afternoon trade Mumbai was 5.33 percent down, at a 16-month low.