The death of the US car bailout bill hammered Asia stocks.

The Nikkei fell 5.6% to 8,236.

The Hang Seng was off 5.9% to 14,688.

The Shanghai Composite fell 3.8% to 1,954.

At the open in Europe, the FTSE fell 2.9% to 4,263. The Dax dropped 3.9% to 4,582. The CAC 40 was off 3.1% to 3,202.

Data from Reuters

Douglas A. McIntyre