Asian shares slid to their lowest levels since 2011 on Monday after weak U.S. economic data and a massive fall in oil prices stoked further worries about a global economic downturn.
Spreadbetters expected a subdued open for European shares, forecasting London's FTSE.FTSE to open modestly higher while seeing Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC.FCHI to start flat-to-slightly-weaker.
Crude prices faced fresh pressure after international sanctions against Iran were lifted over the weekend, allowing Tehran to return to an already over-supplied oil market. Brent oil futures LCOc1 fell below $28 per barrel LCOc1, touching their lowest level since 2003.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell to its lowest since October 2011 and was last down 0.5 percent.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 tumbled as much as 2.8 percent to a one-year low. It has lost 20 percent from its peak hit in June, meeting a common definition of a bear market.On Wall Street, S&P 500 .SPX hit a 15-month low on Friday, ahead of Monday's market holiday.
The Chinese yuan rose 0.6 percent CNH= in the offshore trade to 6.5808 to the dollar, however, as Chinese authorities continued to stamp down speculative yuan selling.
China will start implementing a reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on some banks involved in the offshore yuan market, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Monday, in what appears to be its latest attempt to stem speculation in the currency.
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