Asian stocks tumble after Wall Street sell-off
Asian stocks tumbled Thursday, with Tokyo's market plunging 10 percent, after another dive on Wall Street as worse-than-expected data about the U.S. economy heightened fears of a global recession.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slid 906 points, or 9.5 percent, to 8,641, after earlier falling as much as 10.3percent.
Hong Kong's key index lost 1,212.7 points, or 7.6 percent, to 14,785.6. South Korea's Kospi was down 8.4 percent, Australia's benchmark was off almost 7 percent and Singapore's index lost about 6 percent.
Investors were unnerved by U.S. data showing the country's retail sales fell 1.2 percent in September, almost double the 0.7 percent decline analysts expected clear evidence that consumer spending, which accounts more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, was weakening.
FDIC Chief Raps Rescue for Helping Banks Over Homeowners
The government plan will help stabilize financial markets but it doesn't do enough to address home foreclosures, the root of the crisis, she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"Why there's been such a political focus on making sure we're not unduly helping borrowers but then we're providing all this massive assistance at the institutional level, I don't understand it," she said. "It's been a frustration for me."
Ms. Bair didn't single out government officials or leaders, but her criticisms brushed on decisions made by both the Bush administration and Congress. For example, she described painstaking efforts made by lawmakers in crafting the federal Hope for Homeowners program to make sure it limited resale profits for borrowers who received affordable home loans.
Ms. Bair, who was nominated by the White House and confirmed by the Senate in 2006, has frequently said government and industry efforts to prevent foreclosures aren't effective enough. She has long defended her focus on consumer protection as a key role for the FDIC, which is charged with protecting bank deposits.
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