The Nikkei share average ended the day down 5.01 percent at 19,155.74 after brushing 19,117.96, its lowest since late April 2017.

“Negative sentiment has replaced logic, as is often the case during a sell-off. A third of the selling is induced by panic, another third by loss-cutting and the remaining third by speculators trying to make a profit from the market rout,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Securities in Tokyo.

“The sell-off is triggered almost entirely by developments in the U.S. markets, rather than by negative factors unique to the domestic market.”

• China stocks fell over 2 percent on Tuesday morning but recovered much of the losses by the close, aided by a late rebound in financial shares.

The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.7 percent, to 3,017.28, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 percent to 2,504.82 points. ** China stocks fell amid a global sell-off that was triggered by worries about the global economy and Donald’s Trump’s response to U.S. market weakness.