The 30-share index, BSE Sensex, lost more than 700 points soon after the announcement of credit policy review by the central bank.

Metals, banks and realty stocks were hammered badly.

The central bank kept the Bank Rate unchanged at 6% in its mid-term review of the annual statement on monetary policy for the year 2008-09.

Meanwhile, repo rate was also kept steady at 8%, to judge the impact of a heavy, surprise cut earlier this week to suppress the financial system from the worldwide financial crisis.

Seoul - South Korea's benchmark Kospi index on Friday lost 10.57 per cent, dropping below the 1,000-point level, the lowest since May 2005, as foreign investors continued to sell stocks.

The Kospi fell 110.96 points, or 10.57 per cent to close at 938.75.

Kospi heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co dropped 5.2 per cent after quarterly profit reports were down to the lowest in three years.

On the currency markets, the won fell to 1,422 against the dollar, down from Thursday's close of 1.408, the lowest finish since June 17,
1998.

New Delhi - Indian equities extended losses Friday as the benchmark Sensex tumbled 8 per cent to a two-year low as investors sold heavily after the central bank disappointed them by keeping key rates unchanged in its policy review.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which had shed 912 points over two sessions since Wednesday, lost another 782.62 points by mid-session Friday.

The Sensex fell sharply to 8,989.08, a loss of 8.01 per cent, by noon (06 30 GMT), after a credit and monetary review was announced by the Reserve Bank of India.

Banking, metal and realty stocks shed between 6 to 8 per cent to lead the Sensex to below 9,000, a level last seen in 2006.

Taipei - Taiwan stocks shed more than 3 per cent Thursday, over possible Taipei-Beijing tension arising from upcoming anti-China demonstrations.

The TAIEX index fell 150.89 points, or 3.19 per cent, to close at 4,579.62.

Analysts attributed the fall to the plunge of major Asian stock markets - with South Korean shares dipping more than 9 per cent and Japanese shares down more than 7 per cent in mid-morning trading - and possible cross-strait tension arising from anti-China protests planned Saturday by Taiwan separatists.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average on Friday lost nearly 10 per cent of its value, tumbling below 8,000 for the first time since May 2003, on indications the global financial crisis was beginning to hit the nation's exporters.

The Nikkei shed 811.9 points, or 9.6 per cent, to close at 7,649.08.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues plunged 65.59 points, or 7.52 per cent, to 806.11.

The tumble was led by Sony Corp, whose shares plunged 14 per cent one day after the world's second-largest electronics company warned its profits this year were expected to drop nearly 60 per cent compared with last year.

Manila - Philippine shares slipped by 2.12 per cent on Friday as investors remained jittery over the continued volatility in the stock markets around the world.

The Philippine Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index shed 42.43 points to close at 1,953.49, from Thursday's finish of 1,995.92.

A total of 847.39 million shares valued at 1.95 billion pesos (39.95 million dollars) were traded.

Losers outpaced gainers, 92 to 23, with 24 issues unchanged.