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Asia plunges again on U.S. concern
 Sony and other key Japanese exporters again ended lower on Thursday. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Japan had its biggest loss in a year and other Asian markets plunged to multi-month lows Thursday, extending recent sharp falls as exporters continued to decline on fears of a U.S. slowdown. Tokyo's Nikkei tumbled more than 3 percent, ending well below the 15,000 level for its lowest close since November 2005. In South Korea the Kospi lost almost 3.5 percent to finish at a seven-month low after the central bank surprised market watchers by raising rates. Taiwan's Taiex dropped more than 4 percent. Some of the heaviest falls in Asia were among blue chip exporters in Japan, where leading auto maker Toyota was down 3.4 percent and Honda fell 3.6 percent. Consumer electronics maker Canon ended down 2.5 percent and Sony lost 2.8 percent. Asia's decline followed another down day on Wall Street, and reflects fears that a slowing U.S. economy and higher interest rates will crimp consumer demand in what is one of Asia's most important markets. In Tokyo, the Nikkei plunged 3.07 percent to finish at 14,633.03, after going as low as 14,496.96 at one stage. The broader Topix ended down 3.35 percent to its lowest since November 2005. Big Japanese steel makers ended deep in the red, with falls of 6 percent for JFE and 4.7 percent for Nippon Steel. South Korea also finished well in the red, with the Kospi down 3.45 percent to 1223.13. That came after a surprise rate rise to 4.25 percent by the central Bank of Korea (Full story). Taiwan, another big exporter to the U.S. market, ended down 4.25 percent and Singapore is about 2.8 percent lower. Hong Kong is showing a fall of more than 1.7 percent. Australia dropped 2.35 percent -- a significant fall in a market where swings are relatively restrained -- and New Zealand closed about 0.2 percent in the red. Big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both lost more than 4 percent. Energy-related stocks such as Woodside Petroleum also fell sharply after oil prices tumbled more than 2 percent on Wednesday as growing U.S. fuel stockpiles eased worries over supplies leading into the northern summer driving season, Reuters reported. The losses on Asian markets have been exacerbated by continued selling by overseas investors as they shun riskier assets such as emerging market stocks amid uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy. "We're going through a tough time because we're not sure when the Fed will stop raising interest rates," Han Yo-Seop, an analyst at Daewoo Securities in Seoul, was quoted as saying by Reuters. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed below 11,000 for the first time in three months on Wednesday, down 0.65 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.51 percent. South Korea lowerIn Seoul, mobile phone maker LG Electronics was down 4.33 percent and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics lost 4 percent. SK Telecom lost 3.85 percent. Banking shares were also lower after the central bank lifted rates, with Shinhan Financial Group down 2.08 percent and Kookmin Bank down 4.7 percent. The Bank of Korea surprised most market watchers, who expected it to hold interest rates steady for the fourth consecutive month. Instead the bank pushed rates up by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 percent, ignoring concerns that higher credit costs could undermine growth. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended down 2.35 percent, dropping below the 5,000 level to finish at 4907.2. Woodside Petroleum ended down 4.7 percent to A$41.11. BHP Billiton was 4.6 percent lower and Rio Tinto was off more than 4.5 percent. Jobs data released Thursday show there were 56,000 extra jobs in Australia in May, taking the unemployment rate down to 4.9 percent. Bank HSBC said the jobs growth was "strong enough" to support its forecast of a rate rise in August. U.S. crude futures fell $1.68 to $70.82 a barrel during U.S. trade on Wednesday, with oil trading at $70.65 early in Asia, Reuters reported. 
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