BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Most Asian markets slid into the red Wednesday, ignoring gains on Wall Street overnight, as demand for commodities continued to wilt and financial firms reported weak earnings, reinforcing pervasive gloom about the global economy. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 average fell 55 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,273.22 as investors digested a 64 percent slump in first-half earnings at the country's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. In Australia, a major resource producer, the main index fell 0.7 percent as crude oil traded near a 22-month low. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 0.2 percent to 12,887.17, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.5 percent. India's Sensex bucked the trend, rising 1 percent after declining the past five sessions. A late-session rally on Wall Street — which pushed the Dow Jones Industrial average up 151.17 points, or 1.8 percent, to 8,424.75 — failed to spur much enthusiasm in beaten-down Asian markets. "It's looking pretty miserable at the moment," said Song Seng Wun, head of research at CIMB Securities in Singapore. "The question is how low the markets can go and whether previous bear market benchmarks such as the Asian financial crisis or the tech bubble are a reliable guide," Song said. "At this juncture, the safest bet is to be as defensive as possible, to find some where to take shelter and to wait and see." Mitsubishi UFJ dived 7.1 percent as the market reacted to grim earnings that were released after the close of trading Tuesday. The lender's first-half performance was battered by an increase in bad loans as economic activity slowed and by big losses on its share portfolio. Mazda Motor Corp. was down 2.1 percent after the company bought back nearly 7 percent of its own shares from major shareholder Ford Motor Corp. In Sydney, Woodside Petroleum was down 1.3 percent as crude oil hovered at 22-month lows below $55 a barrel in Asian trading. BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, was off 1.2 percent. In Singapore, commodities company Noble Group dived 12 percent on the likelihood earnings will be hurt by sliding commodity prices as demand wanes in the face of a sharp downturn in global growth. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks prices to ship commodities and is considered a barometer of demand, has collapsed to 865 from a high of 11,793 on May 20 this year. Gold for December delivery fell $9.30 to $732.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange overnight. Earlier this week, the National Association for Business Economics in the United States forecast recessions in many of the world's major economies. It said the U.S. economy, which shrank at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the July-September period, would contract at a rate of 2.6 percent in the October-December quarter. The association also forecast that Canada, Mexico, Britain and much of Europe would all suffer recessions in the coming months. Japan and the 15-nation euro zone have already entered recessions, defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting gross domestic product. "What we need is a substantial improvement in sentiment across global equity markets. And, for that to happen, the flow of bad news from around the globe has to stop," analysts at IndiaInfoline, a brokerage and financial services firm, wrote in a report. "Investors are holding back on fear that October lows could be breached. Excessive fear can drag markets down further." U.S. stock index futures were down, suggesting Wall Street would open lower. Dow futures were down 70 points, or 0.8 percent, to 8,424, while S&P futures were down 6.6 points, or 0.8 percent, to 859.9.

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