Share prices in Europe also fell sharply on Monday on criticism that the weekend's G-7 meeting in Tokyo had failed to produce concrete measures to boost the Japanese economy, and on Wall Street's drop on Friday.

The London FTSE 100 index fell by 66.7 points to 5,681.4 in early trading and in Paris, the CAC 40 index opened 45.42 points lower at 3,981.90, while in Frankfurt the DAX traded 52.40 points lower at 5,650.21. Prices in Amsterdam and Madrid fell sharply.

Renewed weakness in the Japanese yen, which dropped to a low of 138.70 against the dollar late Monday also knocked down stock market sentiment.The yen slumped on disappointment over Japan's limited commitments at a weekend crisis meeting in Tokyo of G-7 and Asian nations, which also depressed regional bourses, dealers said.

Hong Kong stocks ended 4.5 percent lower in a late afternoon sell-off on further weakness in the yen and a rise in local interbank interest rates, dealers said. Hang Seng Index closed down 387.7 points at 8,204.21.

``It is difficult to see why anyone would want to buy in this market at the moment,'' said James Osborne of ING Barings.

Japanese share prices closed 0.3 per cent higher on public fund buying despite negative market sentiment surrounding the troubled Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, brokers said.

Nikkei stock average rose 41.11 points to end at 15,309.09. The LTCB's sharp fall did not affect broad market activity ``because investors expect that the bank will be disposed of in the near term by the government,'' a broker said.

Singapore share prices closed 2.2 per cent lower amid negative news on the domestic front and disappointment over the absence of detailed policies from a Tokyo meeting of G7 and Asian finance officials.

The Straits Times Industrials index fell 24.48 points to 1,098.45, while the broaderAll-Singapore index fell 3.71 points to 306.35. Malaysia's key stock index ended 2.1 per cent lower due to continued uncertainties surrounding the Japanese yen.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index fell 10.00 points to close at 457.61 while the lesser second board index slipped 2.3 per cent, or 2.42 points, to 101.21.

Thai shares slipped three per cent at the close amid concerns about local banks and finance firms as well as worries over the weakness of the Japanese yen, analysts said. ``The main reason the market was down today was some of the negative publicity coming out of Japan and the delay in the stimulation measures,'' a foreign broker said . Jakarta shares closed 1.1 per cent lower amid a regional market downturn and the poor outlook for Asian currencies led by the limp Japanese yen, dealers said.

Philippine shares fell 2.9 per cent pulled down by weakness in the banking sector amid reports of a major loan exposure in troubled Philippine Airlines.

Taiwan stocksfell 1.6 per cent paced by the technology sector as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the US-China summit this week, dealers said.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange's weighted price index dropped 124.36 points to 7,692.91, following a 0.8 per cent rise in the previous session.

Weakness in Asian markets contributed to the mood, with Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia down by the close here and Japan's bourse flat. ``At the end of the day it's just all doom and gloom for the market,'' Forsyth Barr's James Reid said.

APEC must assist or risk global recession: Malaysia

Asia-Pacific economies were warned Monday to assist in East Asia's economic recovery or risk seeing the regional turmoil turn in to a global recession. Opening a two-day annual meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) trade ministers here, Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafida H Aziz said APEC ``cannot ignore what is happening in the region.'' ``The social ramifications have been and willcontinue to be deep and far reaching. At least one APEC economy has been impacted politically,'' she said, alluding to riots in Indonesia which forced veteran President Suharto to step down last month.

``The other APEC economies cannot afford to be passive or even critical by standers and detach themselves from the situation involving East Asia, because regional and global economic linkages and dependence will directly or indirectly spread the so -called contagion effect to other economies outside the region.''