Asia's major markets closed mostly lower overnight hitting four-year lows as oil prices continued to slide and China concerns weighed in on investor sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged 0.4 percent higher but remained down more than 8 percent since the start of 2016. It fell 12 percent last year.
According to Ben Pedley, head of investment strategy for Asia at HSBC Private Bank in Hong Kong, "Investors are still concerned about the extent of China's slowdown and while we may be in the middle of a consolidation phase, we have yet to see any data indicating a turnaround which is feeding the overall uncertainty."
Japan's Nikkei fell 1.3 percent after a market holiday on Monday, hitting a three-month low and dropping over 8 percent so far this year while Chinese stocks moved around in unstable opening trades.
The Australian market erased its morning gains to slip into negative territory, with the main ASX 200 closing down 7.13 points, or 0.14 percent, at 4,925. The energy and materials sectors weighed throughout the session, finishing down 3.51 and 2.31 percent respectively on the back of lower oil and commodity prices. The ASX 200 had dropped 1.16 percent On Monday.
Wall Street Steady
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 managed to stabilize on Monday after three straight days of one-percent-plus declines, ending the day up 0.1 percent.
Oil futures continued their declines, hitting fresh 12-year lows after a selloff during U.S. trade. During Asian trading hours, prices plunged further, as U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded 2.45 percent lower at $30.64 a barrel. The globally traded Brent futures fell 2.69 percent to $30.70 a barrel.