creates a lot of uncertainty." World Stock Exchange Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite trimmed losses by the close Tuesday after a tough session hurt by discouraging comments from Yahoo! and revived worries about the economy following a big drop in housing starts. Also pressuring markets: An apparent coup attempt in Thailand that led that country's prime minister to declare a state of emergency and prepare to abruptly leave a United Nations summit in New York. Thailand is an economic cornerstone of Southeast Asia. Asian stocks fell by the most in more than a week after the military seized power in Thailand. Honda Motor Co. and SingTel paced declines among companies with investments in the country. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.2 percent to 126.49 at 7:03 p.m. in Tokyo, its biggest slide since Sept. 11. All 10 industry groups declined. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average fell 1.12 percent by midday on Wednesday, after hitting a one-month low, The market took news of a military coup in Thailand in its stride and also as a profit warning from Yahoo hit Internet stocks. The Nikkei was down 177.78 points at 15,696.50 after falling as low as 15,666.04, its lowest intraday since Aug. 14. "The political uncertainty affects the sentiment for the region as a whole," said Teo Chon Kiat, who helps oversee $1.4 billion at DBS Asset Management in Singapore. Asian economies are so "inter-related" and the political instability "may affect liquidity flow to the region. " Southeast Asian stocks opened lower after Thai armed forces seized control of Bangkok in a coup, but falls were capped by strong economies and the view that political uncertainties in Thailand are unlikely to spread across borders. The main Singapore stock index was down nearly 1 percent in early trade, while Malaysian shares were off 0.2 percent. Philippine shares, which rose to near 5-month highs on Tuesday, opened 0.5 percent down."You get a knee-jerk reaction, which is to sell, but I would be very surprised if the Thai problem spreads to other countries in the region," Malcolm Wood, regional strategist at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, told Reuters. "The fundamentals for regional economies and markets look pretty solid to us." Honda, Japan's No. 3 automaker, lost 0.8 percent to 3,830 yen. The Tokyo-based company, which has two factories in Thailand, would not operate its auto plant there for today's day