Asian stock markets continue to fall on midweek's close

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - All major Asian stock markets closed the midweek with declines, while the Hang Seng index dropped sharply by 3.41%.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, dropped 1.9%, or 54.42 points, to 2,813.54.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange was down 1.5%, or 397.89 points, to 26,173.985.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, lost 3.41% or 609.43 points to 17,250.88.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange fell 1.58%, or 48.8 points, to close at 3,045.07.

The Indian Sensex benchmark went down 0.89%, or 509.24 points, to end the day at 56,598.28 points, while the Singapore index dropped 1.55%, or 49.19 points, to close at 3,116.31.