Aussie shares follow big falls on Wall St

THE local share market has opened sharply lower following big falls on Wall Street after the US central bank downgraded its economic outlook. At 10.24am AEST today the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 79.5 points, or 1.95 per cent, at 3992.3 while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 78.9 points, or 1.9 per cent, at 4074.7. On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was 81 points lower at 4004 points, with 12,016 contracts traded. US stocks dived after the Federal Reserve announced mostly expected measures to support the US economy, and painted a grim economic picture. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 283.82 points, or 2.49 per cent, to close at 11,124.84. The broader S&P 500 dropped 35.33 points, or 2.94 per cent, to 1166.76, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 52.05 points, or 2.01 per cent, to 2538.19. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Aside from the Fed's measures, Moody's downgraded three top US banks - Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup - as it sees the US government less willing than before to rescue them if they become unstable. Locally, all sectors opened weaker, said CMC Markets chief strategist Michael McCarthy. "Rather than anybody taking a negative view on any particular company they are just taking a negative view on the broad market and the current economic situation," he said. Trading activity was low, however, as investors await further developments on global economic woes. "That's not surprising given what we are waiting on is news out of Europe on the Greek debt situation and the US on congress passing fiscal stimulus measures," he said. Bathurst Resources was the worst early performer, down 6.5 cents, or 8.8 per cent, at 67.5 cents. In other resource stocks, BHP Billiton was down $1.24. or 3.34 per cent, at $35.89, and Rio Tinto was down $3.52, or 5.06 per cent, at $66.07. Treasury Wine Estate, which was spun out of Foster's Group earlier this year, was the best performer among the top 200 stocks, up seven cents, or 2.06 per cent, at $3.47. Foster's shares will start trading at 11am AEST, after announcing its board will recommend a SABMiller take-over offer to its shareholders.