Australian stocks were sold off heavily in afternoon trade, as news out of China pulled down many markets around the region. The Central Bank of China has moved to curb bank lending, by ordering some major lenders raise their interest rates. A deluge of data is also released in China tomorrow, including key inflation data. After a flat start, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 41.3pts or 0.9pct to 4779.5 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) eased by 40.9pts or 0.9pct to 4699.8.

Financial stocks, which had been performing relatively well before the news out of China, fell around 0.6pct. Shares in Westpac (WBC) closed down 0.7pct to $22 while the NAB (NAB) was off 1.4pct to $25.49 and the ANZ (ANZ) closed lower by 0.2pct to $23.70. The ANZ announced after market close that it would lift its standard variable rate by 39 basis points to 7.8pct effective Monday. Shares in the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) lost 0.4pct to $48.08 while Macquarie Group (MQG) was down 1.2pct to $35.75.

Index leader BHP Billiton (BHP) was sold off to the tune of 1.1pct to $44.14 despite significant strength on the London Metals Exchange overnight. Rio Tinto (RIO) fell 1pct to $86.20 while Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) eased by 2.4pct to $6.60.

The price of gold eased from record highs during Asian trade and at 4.30pm AEDT was worth US$1398 an ounce. Shares in Australia's largest gold producer Newcrest Mining (NCM) fell 2.6pct to $42.29.

The energy sector fell by 1.1pct.

Shares in Telstra (TLS) eased by 0.8pct to $2.63.

Qantas (QAN) bucked the trend, rising 1.8pct to $2.80.

Shares in ComputerShare (CPU) fell 2.3pct to $10.15 after announcing its outlook remains soft.

AWB (AWB) closed steady at $1.49 after posting a $54.9 million loss.

And electricity supplier SPAusNet (SPN) says cold weather helped boost its profit, reporting a 23pct rise in 1H net profit to $0.925.

As expected, the Westpac/Melbourne Institute index of consumer confidence fell in the latest month in response to the latest interest rate hike. The index fell by 5.3 per cent to a five-month low of 110.7 in November.

Home lending recorded a modest rise in September. The number of new home loans to owner-occupiers rose for the third consecutive month, rising by 1.3pct in September. In annual terms housing finance commitments are still down 24.6 per cent on a year ago.

Construction of dwellings rose for the first time in 11 months, up by 0.5pct in September. The value of investment loans rose by 1pct in September. The average home loan across Australia stood at $285,100 up 5.8pct on a year ago.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade at US$1.0044, £0.6273 and €72.9c.

Ahead tonight, trade data is released in the US.