The outlook looked bleak on leading Asian stock exchanges in Tuesday's early trading.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 1.1 percent at lunchtime local time, while the broader Topix index stood at minus 0.3 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was simultaneously down 0.6 percent.
Shanghai's composite index was down 0.12 percent, Shenzhen's counterpart was hovering around zero.
South Korea's Kospi index pointed to minus 0.5 percent.
