Grim milestones pile up

A screen displays the Nikkei 225 Stock Average figure at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

TOKYO: Asian equities tumbled as fears of a deeper US economic slowdown and an extended rout in Japanese shares sapped risk appetite, with matters made worse by a violent rotation away from heavyweight tech stocks.

Many equity indexes across the region hit bleak milestones yesterday, with those in export-reliant markets of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea suffering the most – their benchmarks sank more than 10% each intraday.