International equity markets fell off a cliff overnight amid heightened concerns global central banks are running out of tools to fight off a recession.

Markets in Europe slid violently lower with the FTSE slumping 247 points (-4.7%), whilst the CAC (-5.3%) and DAX (-5%) suffered through even heavier falls.

Stateside the Dow Jones slumped 391 points (-3.5%) to settle back below 11000, whilst the S&P 500 shed 3.2% and the Nasdaq dropped 3.3%.

The US dollar jumped higher overnight whilst currencies of commodity exporters (AUD, NZD, CAD) tumbled on concern global growth is stalling.

The US dollar index climbed to a seven-month high whilst the euro reached a fresh decade-low against the yen.

Commodities erased gains for the year with the S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities slumping 4.9%, its biggest plunge for the year.

Copper fell to a one-year low, losing 7.3%, whilst silver lost 9.6%. Oil slid 6.3% to $80.51 a barrel whilst gold lost 3.7% to settle at US$1742 an ounce.

Today's session will bring us data in the form of the CB leading index, which is slated for release at 10:00am.