HONG KONG: Asian markets slipped Thursday following big losses on Wall Street in the wake of weak manufacturing data from China and Europe and downgrades for 15 of the world's biggest financial groups.
The US Federal Reserve's light-touch stimulus on Wednesday also weighed on share prices with concerns it will not be enough to boost the stuttering economy.
Tokyo fell 0.53 percent by the break, Hong Kong dived 1.20 percent, Sydney shed 1.00 percent, Shanghai was 1.40 percent off and Seoul tumbled 2.01 percent.
Fears of a slowdown in the global economy were stoked by figures from HSBC on Thursday showing manufacturing activity in the world's number two economy at its lowest level in seven months in June.
The preliminary June purchasing managers index (PMI) figure marked the eighth consecutive month that manufacturing has contracted.
And eurozone private sector activity sank to the lowest level for three years in the second quarter, a survey showed on Thursday.