Asian markets ended lower, posting sharp losses, after US crude futures recorded a historic plunge overnight, prompting investors to stay away from riskier assets. So Japan's Nikkei-225 index declined 2 percent; China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.9 percent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 2.2 percent; South Korea's Kospi index fell 1 percent and Singapore's Straits Times index slid 1.8 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE-100 had dropped 1.8 percent; France's CAC-40 had declined 2.3 percent and Germany's DAX had slipped 2.2 percent, in intra-day trade.