Tokyo ? The historic carnage on Wall Street reverberated across Asia Tuesday, with stock markets in the region plunging after U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bank rescue plan aimed at stabilizing the U.S. financial system.

All major Asian stock markets in the region tumbled across the board, succumbing to heightened fears of a broader global financial crisis.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index nose-dived more than 544 points, or 4.6 percent, to 11,199.07, with popular stocks like Sony Corp. down 6.8 percent and Toyota Motor Corp. down 4.6 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index sank 3.6 percent. Markets in Australia, South Korea and the Philippines were also down sharply.