Asian stocks tumble on US sub-prime mortgage fears

HONG KONG (AFP) - Asian stocks tumbled Wednesday as the fallout from growing problems in US mortgages snagged one of Australia's highest flying banks and stoked concerns over how much the debacle may ultimately cost.

Dealers said Wall Street losses overnight sparked by trouble at another US company on its exposure to higher risk mortgage loans set the region up for a bad day just as it was recovering from last week's mayhem.

The tone was set in Sydney, down 3.3 percent, where market favorite Macquarie Bank said two high-yielding funds faced losses of up to 300 million dollars ($258 million) because of the problems in US sub-prime home loans.