Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Photo: AFP / Getty Images North America
US share markets posted heavy losses on fears the American economy is headed for recession.
When markets closed at 8am (NZT), the broader S&P 500 index fell 3 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.4 percent. Earlier, the Nasdaq opened 6.3 percent lower, but clawed back some of the losses after data showed US services sector activity rebounding in July.
On Monday Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 12.4 percent, a blow to the world's fourth largest economy.
The recession fears come after a US jobs report last week showed the world's biggest economy added significantly fewer jobs than analysts were expecting, at a time of high interest rates.
The state of the US economy and its stock markets have a direct impact on New Zealanders due to the presence of US and global equities in Kiwisaver accounts.
Follow the latest updates on the global share plunge with RNZ's live blog:
