Shares slide 3 per cent on Italy debt

AUSTRALIAN shares fell the most in almost two months after Italian bond yields jumped overnight, evidence that investors are losing faith in the country's ability to repay its debt. At 1011 today, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 134.3 points, or 3.1 per cent, at 4,211.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index slumped 130.9 points, or three per cent, to 4,275.3. That is the biggest fall in the All Ords since it fell 3.6 per cent on September 12. On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract fell 108 points to 4,4344 with 12,734 contracts traded.