Asian markets regain heavy losses
Story Highlights
NEW: HK's Hang Seng rebounds more than 12 percent

NEW: Singapore's Straits Times recovers from early plunge into positive territory

Japan's Nikkei finishes up 6 percent; S. Korea's KOSPI closes up 5.6 percent

Wall Street closes down, while European markets were mixed

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(CNN) -- Investors in Asia on Tuesday largely shrugged off the latest sell-off on Wall Street, as stocks in Japan and South Korea closed up, while Hong Kong's main index was strongly in positive territory.


A passerby looks at an electronic stock board in downtown Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday.

1 of 3 Tokyo's Nikkei finished the day up 6 percent, while in Seoul, the KOSPI closed up 5.6 percent.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong also was on the rebound Tuesday -- up more than 12 percent in afternoon trading -- after tumbling nearly 13 percent a day earlier. Singapore's Straits Times also climbed back, from a loss of 7 percent earlier in the day to one percent in positive territory.

In Taipei, the Taiwan Weighted lost less than a percent, while Australia's All Ordinaries closed down a third of a percent.

The general rebound came as futures trading pointed to a positive open on Wall Street, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average lost 203 points or 2.4 percent, slumping in late-day trading.

The Nasdaq composite fell 3 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.2 percent. Watch what was affecting Wall Street »

The main European markets enjoyed a mixed day with Paris' CAC 40 falling nearly 4 percent, and London was down less than a percent. Frankfurt was the lone bright spot in Europe, ending up a little less than a percentage point. See market updates

The volatility in world markets coincided with Monday meetings in Tokyo -- of G7 financial ministers and central bank presidents -- and in Brasilia, Brazil -- of foreign and finance ministers from Mercosur economic bloc nations.

"We are concerned about the recent excessive volatility in the exchange rate of the yen and its possible adverse implications for economic and financial stability," the Group of Seven said Monday in a statement.

The finance ministers and bankers said they would "cooperate where appropriate" to help stabilize world markets. They said they were monitoring the situation closely.

In Brasilia, officials agreed that protectionist policies frequently adopted by individual South American nations in past decades would hurt more than help, The Associated Press reported.

The developments came as the Bank of England warned in a cautiously positive biannual report that adverse developments in emerging markets could put fresh strains on financial systems in developed countries, AP reported. The bank also said that hedge funds remain particularly exposed to global troubles, AP cited it as saying.


During the weekend, China played host to a weekend of Asian-European talks in Beijing, where leaders from 43 nations, along with the heads of the European Commission and ASEAN, vowed to act together on the financial crisis.

Mideast markets also dropped sharply during the weekend, despite the announcement by Saudi King Abdullah that he would invest billions of Saudi riyals into the market.

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