Australia: Shares drop 1.0% at open

[SYDNEY] Australian stocks slipped one per cent at the open on Wednesday after a European and US market rally fizzled out on Wall Street.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 51.4 points lower at 5,085.9 in early trade after rebounding on Tuesday.

Australian stocks moved strongly into the black Tuesday, defying Monday's global sell-off as bargain hunters moved in, with the big banks leading the way.

Investors in parts of Asia, Europe and Latin America took encouragement from the Chinese central bank's move late Tuesday to slash interest rates to shore up the world's second-largest economy.

Wall Street seemed on track for the same, trading up nearly 3.0 per cent early in the session, but late selling saw the S&P 500 end down 1.35 per cent. The Dow lost 1.29 per cent.

AFP