Major markets in the Asia-Pacific region braced for another turbulent day, with Sydney shares also opening 1.41 percent lower, while Seoul was marginally lower.

The Nikkei-225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange plummeted 764.92 points to 17,775.76 half an hour from the open, following a 4.61 percent slump on Monday, when it saw its lowest finish in six months.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares gave up 4.28 percent, or 63.37 points, to 1,417.50.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index stood 70.4 points lower at 4,930.9 in early trade, having lost 4.09 percent on Monday.

IG Markets' chief market strategist Chris Weston said "the idea of buying fear is only for the bravest of souls", and how the day panned out would depend on what happened when Chinese markets opened.

"China needs to convince the domestic market and the world that its economy is able to cope with further outflows and that its slowdown is under control," he said, adding that "we will need to hear of easing measures fairly soon".Investors' worries also showed in the currency market, where players stayed away from the dollar and kept the Japanese yen, regarded as a safe haven unit.

A higher yen, however, hurts Tokyo equities as it makes Japanese exports relatively more expensive overseas.

The dollar remained low at 118.78 yen, little changed from 118.51 yen in New York trade Monday, but dramatically weaker than 122.06 yen seen in US trading on Friday.

The euro stood at $1.1570 and 137.50 yen in Tokyo, compared with $1.1606 and 137.55 yen in New York overnight.

The latest global sell-off stemmed from expanding worries that China's slowing growth might drag down the world economy and stoked investor fears.

Shanghai stocks tumbled almost 8.50 percent Monday, wiping out this year's gains, prompting sell orders in Europe and New York, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 1,000 points, or six percent, before trimming its losses to end down 3.58 percent while the broad-based S&P 500 tumbled 3.94 percent.

"No one enjoys watching markets implode like this, but there'€™s not much you can do about it, that'€™s the problem," James Lee, managing director and head of securities at First NZ Capital Ltd., told Bloomberg News.

It looks likely "that we carry on the recent trend and if we do, it will be a rough day," he said.

Popular

Palm oil expansion in Papua raises eyebrow

Democracy’s slippery slope

Outrage as govt blocks foreign disaster aid to Sumatra