Wall Street stocks took a hit at the open as crude prices fell and traders continue to worry about the state of the global and the US economy.
It comes after more falls in Asia overnight, with the Nikkei shedding 2.32% and the Hong Kong market plunging 4% after reopening after the extended Lunar New Year holiday.
The Dow Jones is down 200 at the time of writing, at 15,721, with all but three constituents in positive territory, while the S&P500 is down 22 points.
The tech heavy Nasdaq index is down 30 at 4,255.
Fed chair Janet Yellen, who is making a two day testimony before Congress, did little apparently to cheer the mood yesterday, after saying the US economy faced headwinds and painted a fairly gloomy global outlook.
There was also the suggestion that further interest rate rises from the Fed would be delayed, fuelling anxiety abou the pace of US growth.
Today's US markets have also not been cheered with data today showing joblessness benefit claims have declined stateside to a seven-week low.
Jobless claims dropped by 16,000 to 269,000 in the week to February 6, a Labor Department report showed Thursday.
A notable gainer in the sea of red was electric car giant Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which surged over 13% to US$163 as traders cheered production guidance for the year ahead and news of the launch of the latest model from the stable.