Standard & Poor?s 500 Index (SPX) futures climbed 0.4 percent and Euro Stoxx 50 Index contracts added 0.2 percent as of 7:37 a.m. in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 2.1 percent, set for the lowest close since Sept. 6 as Japan?s Topix index tumbled 2.8 percent. The ringgit declined 0.3 percent to the weakest since May 2010. Natural gas rallied 4.3 percent as cold weather in the U.S. boosted heating demand.

Currencies from Turkey to Argentina sank last week with emerging-market stocks on concern that growth is threatened amid reductions in stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which meets to review policy this week. Bond risk in Asia jumped to a four-month high as Thailand?s political clashes killed one and China wrestled with potential defaults on loans to the coal industry. German business confidence rose this month while new U.S. home sales fell in December, Bloomberg surveys show before reports today.

?The speed at which markets have declined is a surprise,? said Adrian Zuercher, a Hong Kong-based global strategist at Credit Suisse Hong Kong Ltd., part of the asset-management unit that manages about $400 billion. ?The EM story of the past 10 years as we knew it is over. Fed tapering will reduce global liquidity and now is the time to differentiate.?

Asia Slumps

Every major stock gauge in the Asia Pacific retreated today, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) tumbling 2.5 percent in Tokyo after slipping 2.2 percent last week. Hong Kong?s Hang Seng Index lost 2 percent, while the Jakarta Composite Index plunged 2.4 percent. Benchmarks in South Korea, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Thailand lost more than 1 percent. Australian markets are closed for a holiday.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the country?s biggest lender, pared a loss of as much as 2.9 percent. The trust company behind a troubled 3 billion yuan ($496 million) high-yield product distributed by the bank said it reached an agreement on a potential investment. Sony Corp. (6758) fell 3 percent, pacing losses among Japanese exporters.

Trading volume was 23 percent higher than the 30-day average on Japan?s Topix index, while a measure of volatility on the Nikkei 225 surged 21 percent to the highest since September. Gauges of options prices in Hong Kong and South Korea also jumped more than 10 percent.

Volatility in emerging-market equities jumped the most in two years last week, with the Chicago Board Options Exchange Emerging Markets ETF Volatility Index climbing 40 percent to 28.26, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Bearish bets outnumbered bullish ones on the underlying exchange-traded fund by the most since July with about 60 percent more puts than calls.

Volume Spike

Transactions more than doubled for FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index members and were 59 percent higher for Hang Seng Index constituents.

A gauge of regional credit risk is on track for its highest close since Sept. 30. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan jumped 6 basis points to 155.5 basis points, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. prices show.

The net notional amount of credit-default swaps outstanding on China sovereign debt rose to $9.125 billion on Jan. 17, the most since November 2012, according to data published by Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Equities Selloff

A private gauge of China?s manufacturing dropped to a six-month low in January. Global funds pulled $2.4 billion from emerging-market equity funds in the week through Jan. 22, capping a 13th week of outflows, Citigroup Inc. wrote in a Jan. 24 research note.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index?s 4.7 percent loss this month is the most since a 5.1 percent slump in May. Shares on the measure traded at 13 times estimated earnings Jan. 24, compared with a multiple of 15 for the Standard & Poor?s 500 Index and 14 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

?There are real reasons to be cautious since market valuation is still relatively elevated,? Chris Weston, chief strategist at IG Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. ?We?ve got numerous issues out of China.?

Some $995 billion has been erased from the value of emerging-market equities since the Fed signaled in May that it could start scaling back asset purchases. Fed policy makers meet Jan. 28-29 and will probably cut another $10 billion from their monthly bond-buying program, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg this month.

South Korea?s won touched 1,087.50 per dollar, the weakest level since Sept. 13. Indonesia?s rupiah fell 0.5 percent while the nation?s 10-year bond yield jumped 33 basis points, the most in three weeks, to 9.11 percent.

The U.S. 10-year yield rose two basis points to 2.73 percent, after falling 10 basis points last week.