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Asia Stocks Tumble on Obama Bank Plan
By Joseph Woelfel
Overnight Editor
01/22/10 12:19 AM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks in Asia fell Friday after President Obama announced a plan to rein in the risk-tasking for banks.

The declines in Asia follow the drop for U.S. markets Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 213 points, or 2%, to 10,390. The S&P 500 dropped 22 points, or 1.9%, at 1116, and the Nasdaq declined by 26 points, or 1.1%, at 2266.

Obama said his administration would work with Congress to ensure that any financial institution that contains a bank doesn't "own, invest or sponsor" a hedge fund, private-equity fund or proprietary trading desk "unrelated to serving customers." The president also said he would work to limit consolidation in the banking industry, which some believe has made certain institutions "too big to fail."

Big U.S. banks took it on the chin Thursday. Bank of America (BAC:NYSE) lost 6.2%, Citigroup (C:NYSE) declined 5.5% and JPMorgan Chase (JPM:NYSE) fell 6.6%.

Bank stocks in Asia, like their U.S. counterparts, fell.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled 328.28 points, or 3%, to 10,540.13.

As of 12:10 a.m. EST, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong lost 2.5%, while China's Shanghai benchmark index dropped 2.2%.