Another down day for Asian markets

The Asian indices are trending downwards in early trades this morning.

The Nikkei has tumbled 2.3% (346 points) to 14,750. The Hang Seng has shed 1.4% (226 points) to 15,590.

The Taiwan Weighted index has plunged 2.6% to 6440. The Seoul Composite and the Straits Times indices have declined 2% each to 1243 and 2309, respectively.

The All Ordinaries and Shanghai Composite indices are down over 1% each.