Asian shares hit bear market territory; euro continues slide

Asian shares fell into bear market territory for the year overnight, while commodities and the euro suffered heavy falls on renewed eurozone fears.

The Nikkei closed 1.66% lower at 8,377 while the Shanghai market was 2.11% lower at 2,182 and the Hang Seng fell 1.78% to 18,028. The MSCI Asia ex Japan is down 20% for 2011 - the rule-of-thumb definition of a bear market - while the Nikkei has lost about 17.5%, Reuters reports. US indices also lost ground, with the Dow 1.1% lower at 11,823 and the S&P 500 1.13% down at 1,212. The FTSE 100 closed more than 2% down yesterday but began today’s session in positive territory, up 0.3% to 5,383. Gold has taken a battering in recent days, extending yesterday's losses of more than 3.5%,...