Southeast Asian stock markets today plunged as the United States and China sparring over a new Hong Kong security law kept investors away from riskier assets. Stocks declined across the globe led by a steep drop in Hong Kong shares as rising tensions between Washington and Beijing and the gloomy outlook for China’s economy weighed on investors’ sentiment.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 5.5% in its worst day since July 2015 after China moved to impose new national-security laws on the city.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng nosedived 5.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index plunged 1.9 per cent. Singapore’s Straits times tumbled 2.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei-225 Index lost 0.8 per cent while South Korea’s KOSPI lost 1.4 per cent.

European indices were also down in intra-day trade. London’s FTSC-100 declined 1.2 per cent and Germany’s DAX fell 0.6 per cent while France’s CAC-40 fell half a per cent.