New York - Wall Street stocks opened lower on Tuesday following deep declines in equity markets in Japan and Europe and another drop in oil prices.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.81%, the S&P 500 0.92% and the Nasdaq Composite Index 1.25%.
Japan's Nikkei index plunged 5.4% as the yen advanced and Japanese government bond yields turned negative following the central bank's move to adopt negative interest rates.
Bourses in Paris and Frankfurt were both off about two percent.
"Negative policy rates and negative market rates are among the clearest signs that the economic outlook is anything but upbeat," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.