Asian stocks fall amid global recessions fears

Investors across the globe continued to dump stocks Friday as weak economic indicators from major nations including China intensified fears of a new recession. 

"I think the most important thing is Europe and America are both entering into recession at the same time, and the governments failed to take decisive action to stop the decline," said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong. "Investors are disappointed and fear a global recession. So that's why investors are getting out of shares."

Lun also blamed "political squabbling" in the US that is preventing President Barack Obama from spending the money needed to create a jobs program with real impact.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.7% to 17,610.65 after losing nearly 5% the day before. In Hong Kong trade, Zijin Mining Group Co., China's biggest gold miner, fell 8.9% amid a price drop in the precious metal as investors sold gold to raise cash.

Stocks in Seoul slumped amid signs of weakness in China. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder, slumped 6.6%. Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, fell 3.3%. Steel giant POSCO fell 6%.

Economic news was bad around the world. A closely watched survey in Europe indicated a recession could be on the way there, and a manufacturing survey suggested a slowdown in China, which has been one of the hottest economies. Employment figures in the US remained weak.  A slowdown in China could also blunt demand for imported raw materials like iron ore. Australia's Fortescue Metals Group, a leading exporter of iron ore, plummeted 8.1%.

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