FTSE 100 LIVE: Asian shares tumble as global recovery hopes reach new low

A  slump on Wall Street overnight caused Asian shares to fall once again, as a series of warnings from US Federal Reserve officials underscored investor worries over the resilience of the economic recovery. US Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said on Wednesday that the US economy remains in a “deep hole” of joblessness and weak demand.

Mr. Clarida called for more fiscal stimulus, noting that policymakers “are not even going to begin thinking” about raising interest rates until inflation hits 2 percent.

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester echoed Clarida, saying that the US remains in a “deep hole, regardless of the comeback we’ve seen.”

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS tumbled 1.35 percent in the morning session on broad losses across the region.

Chinese blue-chips .CSI300 dropped 1.09 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng .HSI fell 1.72 percent, Seoul’s KOSPI .KS11 sank 1.73 percent and Australian shares .AXJO were 1.18 percent lower.

Japan’s Nikkei .N225 fell 0.74 percent.

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