Most stock indices in Asia are suffering heavy losses today. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index was down nearly three percent (the yen is strengthening against the US dollar as investors seek a safe haven), China's Shanghai Composite Index had fallen over one percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had declined 3.14 percent, while Singapore's Straits Times Index was down 1.39 percent around 9:30 am local Jakarta time.

Asian shares followed the weak performance of Wall Street and Europe yesterday. On Monday (28/09), the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1.92 percent, Nasdaq plummeted 3.04 percent, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.57 percent. This poor performance is due to concern about falling commodity prices and the global economy. Moreover, investors are waiting for US non-farm payrolls (due this Friday) as these data may signal whether US labour conditions are strong enough to justify a Fed Fund Rate hike later this year.

Concern about low commodity prices was evidenced by the selloff in commodity trader Glencore, which lost almost a third of its value on Monday.

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