Manila - Philippine shares plunged 8.33 per cent on Friday in a sell-off triggered by continued decline in stock markets around the world.

The Philippine Stock Exchange 30-share composite index lost 190.64 points to close at 2,097.80 from Thursday's finish of 2,288.44.

A total of 2.74 billion shares valued at 3.02 billion pesos (64.25 million dollars) were traded.

Losers swamped gainers, 135 to 7, with 12 issues unchanged.

Jakarta - The Indonesian Stock Exchange suspended trading in its morning session Friday for the second consecutive trading day amid sharp falls on global markets.

The market announced on its website that "the equities and derivative trading for session I on October 10 is suspended" due to the indices' sharp declines at bourses across the world.

Erry Firmansyah, the market president, told Elshinta private radio programme that it was "impossible for us to resume trading" after Friday's plunges on Asian markets as well as steep losses on Wall Street overnight.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks plunged by 8 per cent to below 15,000 points in early trading Friday as fears over a global economic meltdown heightened.

After the first half hour of trading Friday morning, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index was down 7.97 per cent, or 1,270.29 points at 14,672.95 points. It was earlier down more than 8 per cent.

The sell-off followed a minor rally in stock prices Thursday when the Hang Seng Index rebounded by more than 3 per cent following successive interest rate cuts.

New York - US stocks plummeted again on Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped below 9,000 points for the first time in five years, as a series of US and global efforts to tackle the financial crisis have failed to calm investors.

Both the blue-chip Dow and broader Standard & Poor's 500 tumbled more than 7 per cent. The Dow has now lost more than 35 per cent of its value since reaching all-time highs above 14,000 one year ago. The S&P's seven straight days of losses mark the longest downward streak since 1996.

Sydney - Australian stocks gave up 5.5 per cent in early trading Friday in response to Wall Street falling to a five-year low.

The ASX 200 dropped 223 points, or 5.1 per cent, to 4,097.

The market was spooked by news reports that iron ore customers in China were delaying shipments, in the belief that prices for spot deliveries would fall below long-term contract prices because of withering global demand.

Tokyo - Stocks in Tokyo continued their downward course on Friday, with the Nikkei plunging below the psychologically significant mark of 9,000 points, for the first time in more than five years.

Minutes after trading started, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 279.20 points, or 3.05 per cent, to 8,878.29.

This was a reaction to US stocks plummeting again on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping below 9,000 points for the first time in five years, as a series of US and global efforts to tackle the financial crisis have failed to calm investors.