Asia tumbles, Nikkei, HK both hit 9600

The dollar is trading around 119.45 yen in Tokyo Wednesday

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian markets quickly tumbled Wednesday in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the U.S., with Japan's key Nikkei index sinking as low as 9604.40.

It was the first time it had been below 10,000 since August 1984.

By midday, the Nikkei had stabilized slightly to be down 519.24 points or 5.04 percent at 9773.71.

Big exporters to the U.S. such as automakers Honda, Nissan and Toyota were among those hard hit. The same applied to consumer electronics and high-tech manufacturers such as Toshiba, NEC and Toyota.

Tech bellwether Sony could not trade because there were many more sell offers than buy bids.

Markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore also dropped quickly. Hong Kong in particular took a big hit.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also below 10,000

Like Tokyo, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index crashed through the 10,000 barrier. It was down 7.7 percent, losing more than 800 points to be at 9609 at about 10.45 am.

Micro-motor maker Johnson Electric, which gets much of its revenue from the U.S., was the biggest loser, dropping 27 percent to HK$5.85 in morning trade.

Other Asia-Pacific markets either delayed trading or did not open.

Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand suspended trading for the day. Korea delayed its opening by three hours, then took a 20-minute breather when the market dropped more than 8 percent, losing 43.61 points to 496.96.

Tokyo delayed its opening by 30 minutes, but to little avail. It dropped almost 7 percent in the first hour of trading.

The Nikkei had closed Tuesday at 10,292.95, up 97.26 points or almost 1 percent.

Australia, NZ down heavily

Japan's broader, capital-weighted Topix crashed through the 1000 level to 993.15, before recovering slightly to 1006.23, or a drop of 4.9 percent, by midday. It had closed Tuesday at 1058.12, up 2.14 points.

The price limit for cash stocks has also been halved in Tokyo.

Shares in top Japanese banks fell sharply as worries mounted over stability in the financial system.

Japan's biggest banking group, Mizuho Holdings Inc, fell 6.67 percent to 489,000 yen, while second-ranked Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp was ask-only at 947 yen, compared with Tuesday's close of 997. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group plunged 5.1 percent to 987,000 yen and UFJ Holdings was down 7.15 percent at 610,000 yen.

Australia's stock market fell heavily at the opening Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index losing more than 3 percent in the first 30 minutes.

It was down 117.6 points or 3.6 percent to 3124.4 by midday.

Bank to ensure enough liquidity

The Bank of Japan governor Masaru Hayami said Wednesday the central bank would ensure there was enough liquidity to maintain stability in financial markets.

The dollar is at 119.63 Japanese yen . It could drop to 118.50 in trading Wednesday.

In New Zealand, the first of the Asia-Pacific markets to open after the terrorist attacks in the U.S., the NZSE Top 40 lost more than 4 percent in early trade, down 85.96 points at 1878.74.

It was off 4.26 percent at midday, down 83.87 points at 1880.82.

Singapore's Straits Times index was down 6.5 percent to 1465.26 in mid-morning trade.