Japanese shares fell as much as 11.4 per cent on Friday – the worst drop for 20 years – leading a rout of Asia-Pacific shares as fears deepened that the world’s economy was heading for recession. Markets followed the example of Wall Street, where the S&P 500 dropped by nearly 8 per cent.

India dropped 9.6 per cent as Mumbai opened for business. South Korea fell as much as 9 per cent, Hong Kong by 9.7 per cent, Australia by 8.4 per cent and in Singapore – which the authorities said on Friday had was in recession for the first time since 2002 – shares lost as much as 8.4 per cent in value.