The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997–1998 have a common trait, that is any shock to the financial system or market system can cause the system or market to flip from one state to another state.

We construct four market-specific Financial Stress Indices (FSIs) and overall FSIs for the ASEAN-5 economies from 1997 to 2009. Using the FSIs, we establish stylized features of financial stress and characterize the connectivity of financial markets. The results show that stress was most severe...