Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares plunged more than 6 per cent in the first minutes of trading Tuesday in response to news of the defeat of the 700-billion-US-dollars rescue plan in Washington.

The Hang Seng Index fell below 17,000 points within 10 minutes of the market opening Tuesday but recovered some lost ground to reach 17,266, a loss of 3.43 per cent or 641 points on Monday's close, by 11 am (0300 GMT).

Taipei - Taiwan stocks dropped nearly 6 per cent in mid-morning trading Tuesday, due to Wall Street falls caused by the US Congress failing to to pass the 700-billion-US-dollar bank rescue package.

The Taiwan stock market dropped 400 points after opening at 9 am, despite Taiwan government unveiling an emergency plan to stabilize the bourse earlier on Tuesday.

Two hours into the session, the TAIEX had fallen 324.81 points, or 5.48 per cent, to 5,604.82 points.

Washington - A massive government rescue of the US financial system failed in Congress amid both doubts that Wall Street's dire straits would affect the lives of ordinary Americans, and outrage in any case that taxpayers should bail out corporate titans.

Government officials and congressional leaders from both parties warned that, however distasteful, it would take an unprecedented government intervention in the financial sector to keep the US economy afloat.

Sydney - Australian stocks sli

Tokyo - The Tokyo stock market fell sharply in early trading

Washington  - US stocks plunged and the Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled the most on Monday since the 1987 crash after the US House of Representatives rejected the biggest government intervention into capital markets since the Great Depression.

The hotly debated 700-billion-dollar rescue plan, which was intended to thaw out the frozen credit flow, failed in a 228-205 vote in the House. US President George W Bush has warned the country faces a long and painful recession without the plan.