Stocks continued to bleed as the United States (US) dollar gripped the top on fears central bank tightening measures to tame inflation risked economic recession.
For now, investor sentiment is seen to be divided but more inclined towards the possibility of an aggressive tightening monetary policy.
It is understood that the focus continues to await the speech of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed) at the Jackson Hole Symposium which will determine the percentage increase in interest rates whether aggressive or passive.
Comment Marc Chandler from Bannockburn Global Forex, the market has a habit of reading Powell as dovish and on that factor he sees the risk of 'buying on rumours' then 'selling based on facts'.
This matter is also supported by Tapas Strickland from National Australia Bank in his note by confirming that investor appetite continues to be obscured by Powell's speech later even though there is an opportunity to take risks yesterday.
A string of Wall Street markets closed lower with the Dow Jones Industrial down 1.91%, the S&P 500 losing 2.14% and the Nasdaq Composite down 2.55%.
In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1%, Topix weakened 0.82% while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.46%.
MSCI's broadest Asia Pacific index of shares outside Japan fell 0.97% while a benchmark of US-centric equities worldwide fell 1.8%.
Meanwhile, the strengthening of the dollar also caused the price of gold to shrink to a 4-week low with gold futures falling 0.8% at $1,748.40 per ounce.
As for oil commodities, they rebounded from low levels to trade flat during the session after Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister said the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would cut production.
Based on these factors, US crude oil futures fell 54 cents at $90.23 while Brent crude fell 24 cents at $96.48.
