AUSTRALIA 
Aussie market follows global plunge
Tuesday, 7 October, 2008
Australian markets are down following a horror run on Wall Street (AAP)
WATCH A VIDEO
The Australian share market has lost more than three per cent shortly after opening, following the global plunge in stocks overnight.
At 10.12am (AEDT), the ASX 200 was down 148.5 points to 4,3919.9 - or 3.27 per cent.
VIDEO: Billions lost as Euro markets crash
RELATED: Finance crisis causes global market panic
RELATED: Banks tapped Future Fund for cash
RELATED: The Wall Street bailout explained
RELATED: The credit squeeze explained
At 11.35am (AEDT), the ASX 200 was down 121.7 points to 4,419.
Financial and commodity stocks fell in early trading with ANZ, BHP and Commonwealth Bank among those to slide.
At 10.16am, in the financial sector, National Australia Bank had fallen 95 cents, or 3.72 per cent, to $24.60, Commonwealth Bank was down $1.00 to $43.00, ANZ had lost 37 cents to $17.68, Westpac had shed 33 cents to $22.17, and its takeover target St George Bank had dropped 47 cents to $28.83.
Financial and commodity stocks fell in early trading with ANZ, BHP and Commonwealth Bank among those to slide.
Overnight, world markets dived despite desperate measures by governments in Europe and North America to steady the banking system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell as much as 800 points overnight, slipping below the key psychological level of 10,000 for the first time since 2004.
The blue-chip index closed down 369.35 points (3.58 percent) at 9,955.50.
The Nasdaq composite skidded 84.43 points (4.34 percent) to 1,862.96 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 42.34 points (3.85 percent) to 1,056.89.
Investors dumped shares in a sign that investors were not reassured by congressional approval of a 700-billion-dollar bank bailout, seen by some as insufficient to unclog credit markets and ease economic turmoil.
Source: SBS
