The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled more than 220 points yesterday as a third day of steep market declines in south-east Asia dashed hopes that the economic crisis was starting to ease.

On Wall Street, the Dow recovered slightly just before the close, but still finished 222.20 points - or 2.85 per cent - lower at 7,580.42, pushing its loss for the first six sessions of 1998 to nearly 330 points. Broad-market indexes also plunged about 3 per cent, with the Nasdaq composite, dominated by technology shares, believed most vulnerable to the Asian troubles, closing on its second worst one-day point loss.