Australian shares take a beating

The Australian stock market opened almost two percent lower following an overnight fall in US markets.

At 1015 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 55.8 points, or 1.77 percent, at 4,693.4, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 53.6 points, or 1.12 percent, to 4,714.2.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 56 points at 4,702 on volume of 5,171 contracts.

The big miners both were down more than 1.5 percent at open.

BHP Billiton fell 70 cents, or 1.71 percent to $40.15, and Rio Tinto was down $1.45, or two percent, at $71.15.

A stronger US dollar and more discouraging signs of a subdued economic recovery triggered a broad sell-off in stocks on Wall Street overnight. Major indices tumbled more than one percent.

The Dow fell 93.87, or 0.90 percent, to 10,332.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 14.9, or 1.34 percent, to 1,094.9, while the Nasdaq composite index declined 36.32, or 1.66 percent, to 2,156.82.

- AAP