Asian stock markets tumble after Wall Street falls

TOKYO — The steep decline in U.S. stocks sent Asian stock markets tumbling sharply Tuesday as investors were rattled by concerns over an expanding global financial crisis.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell 4.8 percent to 11,632.99, falling under than 12,000-point level for the first time since mid-March.

South Korea's Kospi shed 6.2 percent, and Taiwan's benchmark was off 4.6 percent. The battering in Australia and New Zealand wasn't quite as severe, with key indices down 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.

The early bloodletting in Asia followed a bleak Monday for world stock markets, which were hard hit after a double-fisted blow from Wall Street _ news that Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch would be sold to Bank of America.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points in its largest point drop since after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

In Europe, the FTSE-100 share index closed down 3.9 percent in London, the Paris CAC-40 slipped 3.7 percent and Germany's DAX 30 index of blue chips sagged 2.7 percent.

Asia's biggest stock exchanges in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were closed Monday for national holidays.

In Tokyo, Kyodo news agency reported that the Japanese unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has requested bankruptcy protection at a Tokyo court after the 158-year-old firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York on Monday.