Asian markets showing strength

For some investors, Asian market reaction to Wall Street's tumble is worth watching. CNN's Hugh Riminton reports.

Asian markets opened with a predictable plunge and blunt predictions on the streets.

I think we are gonna have big financial problems for at least two years.

Banks took the early pressure, Australia’s Prime Minister going public to address investors.

Australia’s major banks which represent 85% of the Australian banking system, uh, that these are in good order, that they are weathering the financial crisis well. If I will regulate it, and I will capitalize it, that remains its situation.

With a late hit to commodity stocks, Australia finished down more than 4%, as did Japan.

We investors in Japan think the financial trouble in the US links so strongly to us, we won’t get in a positive mindset until an emergency bailout planned is forth through.

But so found some resilience through bank on short selling, and Hong Kong bounced back.

In Hong Kong, one seasoned trader says the market is still rating it a 50-50 chance that Congress will still salvage a bailout bill, implication of that is that if they don’t, these markets still have further to fall.

But after the Hang Seng index tumbled 5% in the first 5 minutes, Hong Kong’s oldest working trader was seeing up some.

Do you think this is a buying opportunity?

Very good, the opportunity to buy …

The market agreed, recouping all of those lost early losses to close the day ahead, the only market in Asia to do so. So has Asia now shown a fundamental strength? Some believe it has.

Asian banking system in the last 12 months have not needed to be supported, nationalized, injected, or privatized or otherwise interfered with either by the central banks or the Asian governments. The Asian banking systems are absolutely sound, alive and kicking.

Maybe, but would you put your house …

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Hong Kong.