Economic security

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Slide After Steepest Selloff Since 2011

U.S. stock-index futures extended declines in early Asian trading Tuesday, after three days of drops that culminated in the steepest plunge for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 6 1/2 years.

Contracts on the S&P 500 Index fell as much as 2.5 percent, reversing a gain of as much as 1 percent, while those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.2 percent. Equity markets across Asia tumbled, with Japan’s Topix index slumping as much as 5.4 percent. Still, futures on the CBOE Volatility Index offered some hope that the selloff may abate, sliding to 28, after the VIX posted a record spike higher on Monday to close at 37.32.

“It seems perhaps a few brave souls are looking to buy some Asia equities exposure and hedging via S&P,” said Kay Van-Petersen, a Singapore-based global macro strategist at Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd. “But lets see how rest of the day pans out. Leadership has to come out of the US on this. So would expect bloodbath to continue from Asia over into Europe.”