Asian stocks tumble as bailout confidence fades

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets dropped early Wednesday as U.S. markets plummeted toward last year's lows and investors began losing hope that governments can rescue the world's economies from slipping deeper into recession.It marked the region's third day of declines, and followed a sell-off overnight on Wall Street that sent the major benchmarks to within a hair's breadth of their lowest close in more than five years.As President Barack Obama signed America's $787 billion measure to revive the world's largest economy, investors were still faced with a rash of downbeat news about everything form struggling U.S. carmakers to beleaguered banks and slumping business activity. Amid the growing evidence of decay, investors are still waiting for more specifics from policy makers on plans to turn around a flagging world economy.