US open: Sharp losses on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street were registering steep losses at the start of the week following a poor report on Chinese currency reserves for January and renewed downward pressure on the oil complex.

As of 16:02GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 365 points to 15,844, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were expected to start the session 43 and 122 points lower, respectively, to 1,837 and 4,240.

The Federal Reserve´s Labor Market Conditions Index Change index for January retreated from 2.9 points in December to 0.4.

Japan starts week higher, but Asia worries loom large

Elsewhere, Japan led the start of what was set to be a quiet week in Asia on Monday, with many markets - particular those in mainland China - closed for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

A buoyant Nikkei Stock Average closed up 1.1%, after data from SMBC Nikko Securities suggested companies listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange would record a combined 3.4% year-on-year rise in net profit in the year to March.

However, figures out on Sunday showing that China´s foreign currency reserves decreased by almost $100bn in January appeared to rekindle worries about that country´s currency, sparking selling across many asset classes and many regions.

Commenting on the recent roll-over in the US dollar, JP Morgan strategist Mislav Matejka on Monday told clients he continued to be cautious because there were no signs as of yet that economic activity was stabilising.

Citigroup´s economic surprise index had hit its worst level in two-and-a-half years, lending standards in the US had tightened for two quarters in a row and the weakness was starting to become apparent in the services sector too, he said.

As if all that were not bad enough, the flow of data out of China appeared to be rolling over again and the best indicator of 'momentum' for the Eurozone, the M1 monetary aggregate, was peaking, the strategist added.

European stocks fell deep into the red on Monday, with energy issues under the cosh as oil prices slid again.

West Texas Intermediate was down 2.40% to $30.17 a barrel and Brent futures by another 1.429% to $33.61.

In company news, trading in shares of natural gas and oil exploration and production outfit Chesapeake Energy were halted after plummeting 51% pending a news announcement.

Hasbro managed to eke out slight gains after the toy-maker posted a quarterly profit of $175.8m, boosted by sales of Star Wars merchandise and Nerf products.

Educational toymaker LeapFrog Enterprises was lower despite an announcement from VTech Holdings saying it would buy the company for $72m.