Dubai trouble rattles Asian markets, building and banking shares plunge

Asian stocks plunged Friday with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index plummeting 4.8% to close at 21,135. In China the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.4%, ending the day at 3,096 and in Japan, the Nikkei Index fell 3.2% to 9,082.

News that Dubai's government-owned investment company, Dubai World, was asking to delay paying back $60 billion in debt, triggered a wave of heavy losses for banks and other companies with investments in the region. Dubai has been on a massive spending spree, investing in construction and development that has transformed this desert locale into a financial and tourism center. Recent additions to the landscape include the gravity-defying Burj Dubai, intended to be the tallest building in world and slated to be completed this January, and a mall with an indoor ski resort.