Australian stocks hammered in global sell-off

Sydney - Sellers swamped the Australian stock market at the opening bell Tuesday as investors took their turn to join in the global sell-off. The ASX 200 lost 142 points, or 3.1 per cent, to take the index to 4,398. It was the same story in New Zealand, where the index gave up 79 points, or 2.6 per cent, to 2,969 at the opening. The drop in share values was mirrored in the Australian dollar's performance on the cross rates. It gave up 5 US cents in overnight trading to reach a two-year low of 72 US cents. The Australian dollar has depreciated 20 per cent since June as fears grow that a worldwide recession will cut demand for coal, iron ore and other big export... [read full story]