HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets were mauled Friday, with Japanese, Indian and South Korean indexes slumping more than 9.5% each to end below crucial psychological milestones as fears of a global recession swept across the region. Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan dropped to their lowest levels in at least three years.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average sank 9.6% to end at 7,649.08, a closing level it hasn't seen since April 29, 2003. The benchmark is now valued at less than a fifth of its all-time high of 38,915.87, which it touched in December 1989.

"There is a complete loss of confidence and it was brought on by the decline in Japan," said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. "We are going back to the stone ages."

South Korea's Kospi index dropped even more, plunging 10.6% to close at 938.75, registering its first fall below the 1,000-point level since June 30, 2005.

India's Sensitive Index hit the day's bottom at 8,566.82, a level it hasn't seen since November 2005, before ending down 11% at 8,701.07.

During the tumultuous week, the Nikkei lost 12% and the Sensex shed nearly 13%, while the Kospi sank more than 20%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which ended below the 14,000-point level a day earlier, fell past even the 13,000 milestone during the session for the first time since October 2004. The index ended down 8.3% at 12,618.38.

"I don't think the turmoil will be finished any time soon. I think it'll continue this quarter and the next. It's very difficult to see the bottom in the near-term," said Hirokazu Yuihama, head of regional strategy at Daiwa Institute of Research in Shanghai.

The losses in Tokyo were led by Sony Corp. (6758) SNE, +0.25% , which slumped 14.1% to end at its lowest level since 1995, after the company on Thursday cut its full-year profit forecast to 150 billion yen ($1.54 billion) from 240 billion yen, citing a stronger yen, weaker sales in its electronics unit and hard times in the financial-services segment. See full story.

Other exporters were also hammered in the wake of Sony's profit-warning after the U.S. dollar fell below the 96 yen-level, as risk-averse investors unwound their carry trades.

Singapore, rest of region

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped as low as 3,830, the lowest it has seen since November 2004, before paring some losses to end at 3,869.40 for a loss of 2.6%.

Taiwan's Taiex ended at its lowest point of the day -- 4,579.62, a level it hasn't seen since May 2003.

Singapore's Straits Times index touched the day's bottom at 1,590.36, a level it hasn't seen since September 2003, before ending down 8.3% at 1,600.28.

China's Shanghai Composite and New Zealand's NZX 50 index were among the best performers of the day, with the Shanghai index ending down 1.9% at 1,839.62, while the NZX 50 index lost 1% to 2,778.55.

Yuihama said recession worries were in place, and that it was "almost certain" that the U.S. and Europe could go into a recession during the third and fourth quarters of 2008.

"That is very negative for Asian economies. Export-dependent economies like South Korea, Taiwan and China will be hit hard," he added.

He said Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was expected to find support near the 12,000-point level, Singapore's Straits Times index near 1,500 and Taiwan's Taiex close to 4,300.

Analysts said fears of further earnings downgrades for regional corporations also likely contributed to the sell-offs.

Peter Hilton, head of Asian equities research at Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong, said analysts were likely to downgrade corporate earnings for 2009.

"In general, strategists and economists had held some hope that in the second half of 2009, we might be moving ahead, but now, that's being rapidly discounted and analysts are going to have to continue to discount 2009 earnings," said Hilton.

After the crisis in the financial markets and the credit markets, "the next step is for the real economy, which is slowing quickly in the third quarter," said Hilton.

Over $820 billion wealth lost in a week

The weekly losses this week across the top eight stock markets in the region -- Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei -- totaled nearly $820 billion, according to FactSet Research data.

Of those losses, Tokyo, the largest stock exchange in the region by market capitalization, lost more than $190 billion, while Hong Kong lost almost another $180 billion.

Regional detail

In Tokyo, Sony's outlook also dragged down other exporters, with Canon Inc. (7751) CAJ, -2.70% slumping 12.6% and Sharp Corp. SHCAY, +3.13% (6753) shrinking 13.7%.

In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 95.21 yen, compared with 97.56 yen late Thursday, as investors unwound their carry trades.

In Seoul, shares of Samsung Electronics Co. SSNLF, slipped 13.8% after the company's third-quarter net profit dropped 44% from the year-earlier period, according to reports.

In Hong Kong, shares of market heavyweight HSBC Holdings (5) HBC, lost 12.5%, pressuring the benchmark Hang Seng Index. Among other notable losers, diversified China Resources Enterprise (291) lost 11.6% and bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (388) HKXCF, -0.99% fell 7.1%.

Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (1398) gave up 7.4% in Hong Kong and 2.6% in Shanghai before the mainland's largest lender reported a 25.5% growth in third-quarter profit.

In Mumbai, shares of Maruti Suzuki India ended 9.9% lower after it reported a 37% drop in fiscal second-quarter net income from the year-ago period due to an increase in raw material costs and higher depreciation charges.

Among other big losers of the day, shares of real estate major DLF slumped 24%, and market heavyweight Reliance Industries skidded 16.4%, although it posted a better-than-expected 7.4% growth in second-quarter net profit on Thursday.

December crude-oil futures fell $1.40 to $66.44 a barrel in electronic trading, after climbing $1.09 to $67.84 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.