Asian stock markets tumbled on Tuesday, tracking sharp losses on Wall Street as fears of a US recession and the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs rattled investors. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.74 percent to 36,382.57, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.88 percent to 7,891.90. Other regional markets also declined, with New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan down between 1.1 and 1.7 percent, and China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia off 0.3 to 0.9 percent. The sell-off followed a 2.08 percent plunge in the Dow, a 2.7 percent slide in the S&P 500 and a 4 percent rout in the Nasdaq overnight. Trump declined to rule out a recession after imposing tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, and threatened sweeping sanctions on Russia.