Asian stock markets resumed their downward slide today after Wall Street fell to its lowest levels in more than 12 years amid deepening fears about the fate of General Motors Corp. and major financial companies, The Associated Press reported. The region's retreat marked a return to the selling that had gripped global equities markets until a brief rally earlier this week on hopes China would announced major new stimulus measures. Every major Asian market traded into the red, though the losses were somewhat more muted than the sharp declines in the U.S. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 260.39 points, or 3.5 percent, to 7,173.10, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 289.72, or 2.4 percent, to 11,921.52. South Korea's Kospi was off 0.3 percent at 1,055.03. Elsewhere, Shanghai's benchmark swooned 1.3 percent, Australia's stock measure was 1.4 percent lower and Singapore's key index shed 0.8 percent.
