Most Asian stock market indices ended lower today. South Korea’s Kospi plunged 7.9 per cent dragged by chip stocks, Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed two and a half per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite fell two per cent, Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.6 per cent. In contrast, Singapore’s Strait Times index gained 1.1 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose nearly 0.8 per cent.