Asia-Pacific shares slide as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate; oil prices surge

The U.S. markets were closed for a holiday on Monday, though moves in stock futures Monday night stateside pointed to losses ahead for Wall Street at the Tuesday open.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 416 points, or 1.22%. S&P 500 futures fell 1.59% while Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 2.12%.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.167 following a recent bounce from below 95.8.

The Japanese yen traded at 114.65 per dollar, largely holding on to gains as compared to levels above 115.6 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar was at $0.7186, off levels above $0.72 seen recently.