Global markets were belted last night amid ongoing eurozone concerns and disappointment about the Fed's latest round of measures to stop the rot in the US economy.

In Europe the FTSE shed 75 points (-1.4%), whilst the CAC (+1.6%) and DAX (+2.5%) were hit even harder.

Stateside, the Dow Jones slumped 284 points (-2.5%) whilst the broader S&P 500 lost 2.9% and the Nasdaq shed 2%.

The losses in the US accelerated after the Federal Reserve announced plans to buy $400 billion of long-term dent in an effort to combat 'significant downside risks' to the economy.

Investors stood up and took note of the Fed's downward revision of the economic outlook by dumping equities, sending the S&P to its biggest single session loss in a month.

The Aussie and Kiwi dollars fell to the their lowest levels in a month against the greenback, as higher risk instruments like stocks, commodities and risk currencies were sold down across the board.

The Canadian dollar, another commodity based currency, tumbled to its lowest level against the USD this year.

Oil fell 1.2% but remains up 19% on year, whilst gold also lost ground, shedding 1.4% to settle at US$1783 an ounce.

There is no major local data due out for today's session.