It was a sea of red on global markets as US, European and Asian stocks finished lower overnight.
Negative vibes on global markets
Most sectors on Wall Street were sold off, with energy being the sector which was hardest hit.
This follows a sharp fall in oil prices, which also impacted European markets.
Shares in industrial giant General Electric fell again, and weighed heavily on the US market. GE has dropped by more than 12 per cent in the past couple of days, its biggest fall in eight years.
There was some positive US economic data released overnight, with the producer price index gaining 0.4 percent in October.
Although this beat market expectations, it was not enough to lift investor sentiment,
The Nasdaq index closed 0.3 per cent lower, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent and the Dow Jones dipped 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets put in a weak performance after disappointing economic figures from China on Tuesday.
Tokyo's Nikkei was flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.1 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5 per cent.
China's economic figures also weighed on international markets overnight, as a slower Chinese economy would also have flow-on effects for the wider global economy.
Australian market today
ASX futures have dropped by 26 points, so that points to Australian shares opening lower in a few hours.
The local market is likely to be knocked back even further below the 6,000 points milestone, which it only cracked last week.
Mining stocks will also be pressured by a drop in base metal prices overnight — in particular, copper (-1.8pc), aluminium (-0.9pc) and zinc (-2.3pc).
In economic news, Westpac will release its latest consumer confidence report, and the Bureau of Statistics will release wage price index figures — in addition to the results of the same-sex marriage vote.
"We estimate that the economic impact of marriage equality will be marginal, but positive, with wedding expenditure likely to exceed $650 million within a year if the legislation is successful," ANZ Bank's Daniel Hynes said.
Australian wages are expected to lift by 0.7 per cent since the June quarter, which is a 2.2 per cent annual increase, according to economists polled by Reuters.
The Australian dollar is steady against the greenback, and trading at 76.3 US cents.
