Horror morning
The Australian share market has opened two per cent lower, after Wall Street lost more than 3.5 per cent and European stocks fell sharply overnight.
At 10:35am +1000 on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 70.4 points at 3,974.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 63.6 points, at 3,901.3.
On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was down 62 points at 3,907, with 14,765 contracts traded. Get The Latest Finance News And Market Updates
Meanwhile the Australian dollar has fallen sharply to 10-month lows, as concerns over the state of the US economy cause a massive sell-off on global markets.
At 07:00am +1000, the Australian dollar was trading at 97.46 US cents, almost three US cents lower from 100.18 cents on Thursday.
Since 1700 (+1000) on Thursday, the currency has traded as low as 96.92 US cents, the currency's lowest level since December 1, 2010, according to Bloomberg data. (Keep Up To Date With The Aussie Dollar By Visiting Our Currencies Centre)
The local unit traded as high as 100.24 US cents overnight.
US stocks suffered a brutal sell-off Thursday fuelled by the Federal Reserve's stark warning about the health of the US economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down 3.51 per cent.
Stocks in Europe fell around five per cent, while commodities also tumbled.
Westpac New Zealand senior market strategist Imre Speizer said there was no significant news event that caused the sell-off overnight.
He said it appeared to be due to a psychological residual effect of the US Federal Reserve's dire assessment, reported on Wednesday.
"That was something that hung over the markets for more than a day," Mr Speizer said.
"It might have been that the fundamental outlook is increasingly looking like it will get worse before it gets better, and that's starting to dawn on investors."
Traders will be closely following developments from the ongoing talks between the Group of 20 (G20) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials, being held in Washington, Mr Speizer.
"There will probably be lots comment on the global outlook and probably a lot of comment on Europe.
"The question is do we see any initiatives that are agreed. I don't think we will see anything significant." (Keep Up To Date With The Aussie Dollar By Visiting Our Currencies Centre)
During the local session on Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is due to release its half yearly Financial Stability Review.
