Asian stock markets tumbled by five percent Tuesday morning following a similar decline in New York on Monday, and Tel Aviv is expected to follow suit at the opening of trade Tuesday morning. The popular Tel Aviv 25 index dropped by only one percent on Monday, its lowest level in two years, but the real estate index sank by almost five percent.

The financial crisis also has burst the bubble in commodity prices, and crude oil was trading slightly above $90 a barrel Tuesday morning, compared with $140 a barrel less than two months ago. If the price of crude oil does not rebound, motorists may enjoy a reduction by as much a shekel a liter in the cost of gasoline at the beginning of October.