Stocks crumble in vicious sell-off as "goldilocks" trade unravels

Japan's Nikkei dived 4.7 percent, its worst fall since November 2016, to four-month lows. [File, AFP]

A rout in global equities deepened in Asia on Tuesday as inflation worries gripped financial markets, sending U.S. stock futures sinking further into the red after Wall Street suffered its biggest decline since 2011.

S&P mini futures fell as much as 3.0 percent to four-month lows, extending their losses from the record peak hit just over a week ago to 12 percent, abruptly ending their smooth bull run of recent years. They last stood down 1.1 percent.