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Shares in the Australian stock market tumbled to September 2009 lows out of the blocks this morning, following a wild day’s trading in the US. Overnight, the Dow Jones slumped around 3.2% on a combination of fat-fingered trading and burgeoning debt concerns in Greece and the eurozone.

On Wall Street, speculation was rife a Citigroup trader entered billions instead of millions against a Procter & Gamble stock.

On our market, it was the banks that led the market down again, with losses on the ASX/200 stretching into a fifth consecutive session.

At noon, the All Ords lost 95.6 to 4,503, while the ASX/200 shed 95.7 to 4477.5. Around 1.6 billion shares worth around $4.1 billion had changed hands.

In sea of red, the banks still managed to stand out. The big four lost ground as investors fretted over a broader market correction on international markets and the possibility that the super tax on miners could be replicated in the financial industry.

NAB lost 96c to $24.90, while Westpac slumped 99c, or 3.9% to $24.11. CBA was over $2 cheaper by lunch at $53.15.

Meanwhile ANZ shed 66c, or 2.9% to $21.79.

Macquarie Group retreated $1.32 per share, down to $45.47 each. Not surprisingly, all the insurers were lower with AMP leading the retreat with a 4.1%, or 26c drop to $5.70.

The Banks and Financials sector gave up 3.2%.

Westfield retreated 31c, or 2.4% to $12.36. The Property Trusts sector was 2.4% lower.

The miners, who have been haemorrhaging this week, showed some resilience to the broader sell-off, suggesting that bargain hunters have moved in and prices would now stabilise.

At lunch Rio Tinto were trading up around 8c, or 0.1% to $65.77. In early trade it touched $64.00, a level not seen since November last year.

BHP Billiton lost 21c, or 0.6% to $37.39.

It was however the gold miners that stood out. Newcrest and Lihir, who agreed earlier this week to merge, added 2.1% and 1.6% respectively.

Junior gold stocks, Kingsgate Consolidated and St Barbara added over 4% each.

Steel and iron ore stocks were lower. Fortescue shed 4c to $4.17, while Bluescope was down 3c, or 1.2% to $2.49.

The Materials and Resources sector lost 0.5%.

Among the highly volatile coal sector Centennial Coal lost 20c, or 4.2% to $4.51 after jumping around 18% following a Thai miner buying a big stake in the company.

Whitehaven, meanwhile, lost 2.8%.

The broader Energy sector was down 1.6%, however the major news was a 45c jump in the price of Karoon shares to $7.45. The explorer indicated positive results from a Browse Basin exploration well.

Stantos shed 2.8%, Oil Search and Woodside were down 2.3% each.

The Industrials was universally red, with the sector’s losses coming in at around 2.7% on average.

Sector heavyweights Brambles and Qantas lost 3.6% and 3% respectively.

Elsewhere, the Consumer Discretionary sector was 1.9% weaker.

Myer shares slumped 8c to $3.08, an all-time low for the stock which investors paid $4.10 each for less than six months ago.

Among the gamers, Tabcorp and Crown were down between 1% and 1.5%, while Newscorp and Fairfax shed 1.2% and 3.65 respectively.

Meanwhile Consumer Staples stocks, Wesfarmers and Woolworths shares gave up around 1.5% each as the sector retreated the same amount overall.

Telstra was 8c cheaper at $3.00 per share, after the government said yesterday it could go it alone on the $43 billion NBN. The broader Telecommunications sector shed 2.5%.

Around the region, the Nikkei 225 fell 410.5   to 10,285.2 after being closed for the past three days, while the NZSE50 retreated 64.4 to 3,153.5. The Strait Times Index dipped 44.1 to 2,795.6. 

Spot gold was trading at US$1,201.09 per ounce, while the Aussie was buying US$0.8865. 

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Rio Tinto focusing on Canada
In a portentous move for the future of the Australian mining industry, Rio Tinto said it has approved the recommencement of a US$401 million iron-ore expansion project in Canada. Rio Tinto, whose stake in the project would be US$235 million, said the project would be led by its Iron Ore Company of Canada ("IOC") operations, with the aim being to increase its annual concentrate capacity by four million tonnes to 22 million tonnes by 2012.

At noon, Rio Tinto shares were up 16c to $65.85.

IRESS says outlook is improving
IRESS Market Technology said that the company was confident the financial markets were improving this year, driving activity for the company. Speaking at Macqurie Australia Conference, IRESS said revenue growth was expected to be at the upper end of expectations, though still well below pre-crisis levels.

At lunch, IRESS shares were down 2c to $8.32.

Karoon to conduct production test
Karoon Gas Australia shares spiked over 10% higher at the open Friday after the company said it would be conducting a production test on the Kronos-1 exploration well in the Browse Basin alongside joint venture partner and operator of the project ConocoPhillips. Karoon said, in the announcement released after the close yesterday, that the test is expected to take up to 20 days.

At midday, Karoon shares were up 60c to $7.60.

Alumina sees positive outlook for 2010
Alumina said the outlook for 2010 is much more positive for the market with demand expected increase overall by 10% on 2009, but still below the levels of 2008. The company said it is seeing a sluggish recovery in the US, Japan and Europe, but strong growth in China and India.

At lunchtime, Alumina shares were up 0.5c to $1.59.

ANZ approved for branch in Chongqing
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group announced it has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to establish a branch in Chongqing in western China. The company said the approval follows a strategic cooperation agreement between ANZ and the Chongqing Government’s Financial Affairs Office signed in February.

At noon, ANZ shares were down 58c to $21.87.

Telecom March Q profit drops 39%
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand reported a net profit of $97m for the March quarter, down 39% on the $159m profit reported a year earlier. The company said it now expects guidance for adjusted group net earnings for the year to be in the lower half of the $400 million to $440 million range that was previously announced.

At midday, Telecom shares were down 4.5c to $1.67.

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