Tokyo stocks end lower

The Topix dropped 3.7 percent to 1,384.97 as of 12:41 p.m.in Tokyo, with about 30 shares falling for each that rose.

Glencore Plc plunged 26 percent in Hong Kong Tuesday, after a record rout in London, amid concern that the commodity trader and miner isn’t cutting its debt load quickly enough amid reduced demand for metals and mineral from China.

The Nikkei and corporate profits had surged in tandem since last October, when the BOJ first announced its stimulus program which was unprecedented in size (Yen 80 trillion per month) in conjunction with the Abernomics which was looking to a weaker yen to keep Japan\’s exports competitive.

Commodity markets struggled after fears of weaker Chinese demand pushed prices to multi-year lows overnight.

Tokyo stocks plunged 4.05 percent Tuesday following declines in overseas markets, as concerns over global economic slowdown smothered investor sentiment across sectors.

USA stock futures were higher Tuesday, while global stocks were down with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plunging 4.1%.

Japan’s Nikkei average brushed aside an unexpected drop in the country’s industrial output to gain 1.8%. Thailand’s baht slid to its weakest in over eight years.

“At this point, there seems to be more headwinds to [emerging markets] and Its very hard to see what will turn things around in the near term”, said Khoon Goh, currency strategist at ANZ.

Investors will also pay attention to a speech by U.S. central bank chief Janet Yellen later in the day for cues on the direction of United States monetary policy, her first since indicating last week that a hike in the near-zero federal funds rate remains on the table for 2015. The rupee has been relatively resilient compared with its Asian peers recently, having strengthened from a 20-month low on May 8.

Analysts say investors have been buffeted by a slew of bad news. Xiao Shijun, analyst at Guodu Securities, said shrinking trading volumes amid China’s crackdown on illegal margin loans could limit the market’s losses. By the close of Kuala Lumpur trade, the ringgit was down 0.8 per cent at 4.4570 versus the greenback and 3.1201 versus the Singapore dollar.

Taiwan’s market was closed because of Typhoon Dujuan.

Meanwhile, markets in Taiwan remain closed after Typhoon Dujuan hit the island on Monday.

Jacky Wong, Kosaku Narioka and Yifan Xie contributed to this article.