By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian stocks traded sharply lower Tuesday, with miners and the oil sector under pressure in the wake of overnight declines in commodity prices, while Japan's Nikkei benchmark briefly tumbled below the 8,000 point level before recovering, with automakers and other exporters hurt by the U.S. dollar's decline to the upper-93 yen level. Honda Motor Co.'s ) shares were down 6.8%, while those of Mitsubishi UFJ Group , Japan's biggest bank, were down 6.1%. The sell-off came in the wake of a bruising session for U.S. stocks Monday, which saw the S&P 500 index plunge 9% to 816, led lower by financials, the energy sector and materials issues. Investors rushed to dump shares after reports showed U.S. manufacturing contracted at its fastest pace in 27 years in November. Among commodity producers listed in Sydney, shares of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were down 7.9% and 6.7% respectively. Among regional indexes, the Nikkei 225 ended the morning session off 4.6% at 8,011.67, the South Korean Kospi fell 2.9% at 1,028.90, and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was down 3.8% at 3,541.30. New Zealand's NZSX-50 Composite shed 1.4% and Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 1.4% . In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 1.3% at 1,870.13. The U.S. dollar firmed against the yen Tuesday, recouping some of its 2.6% decline in New York Monday. The dollar was quoted at 93.76 yen late morning in Tokyo, up from its overnight close of 93.05 yen. The Bank of Japan was to hold an emergency policy board meeting in Tokyo Tuesday afternoon. The meeting was to "examine possible changes in the treatment of corporate debt as collateral and possible ways to enhance flexibility in funds-supply operations collateralized by corporate debt," the BOJ said in statement Monday. Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa was also due to hold a press conference later in the afternoon. The central bank was to assess the funding shortage faced by Japanese companies and seek to introduce measures to alleviate the cash crunch faced by firms during the calendar and fiscal year end, analyst said. The outlook for prices may also be considered in light of recent data showing manufacturing in Asia and the U.S. heading for a deep slump. The prices-paid component of the U.S. ISM manufacturing survey, released Monday, showed a pronounced decline, falling to 25.5 from 37. "The decline in prices is hideous and makes deflation now a most serious concern for the U.S. economy," wrote Uwe Parpart, chief economist, strategist Asia with Cantor Fitzgerald in Hong Kong, in a note Tuesday. Shares of Nomura were down 7.7% on concerns over a possible dilution of shareholder equity after the brokerage said on Monday it would raise 410 billion ($4.4 billion) in a convertible bond issue. Among export-related stocks taking a beating, Mazda Motor Corp was down 5.2%, Isuzu Motors Ltd fell 5.1% and Canon Inc fell 5.3% Crude oil for January delivery fell as much as 57 cents to $48.71 a barrel in electronic trade. The front month energy contract ended at $48.72 a barrel in Nymex trade Monday. In other U.S. trading Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 679 points, or 7.7%, to end at 8,149. The Nasdaq Composite slumped 137 points, or 9%, to 1,398.

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