Local stocks suffered their biggest one day fall since August today in response to huge falls on global markets overnight. European shares posted their largest drop in five months while Wall Street slumped as investors fretted over Eurozone debt worries and Chinese inflationary concerns. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) eased by 77.7pts or 1.6pct to 4705.1 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) fell 76pts or 1.6pct to 4624.3.

Mining and energy stocks were the biggest losers, in response to a sell-off in commodity prices. At 4pm AEDT the Nymex crude contract was holding at its New York lows of US$82.34 a barrel while the Comex gold contract had fallen a further 0.1pct to US$1337.70 an ounce. Index leader BHP Billiton (BHP) fell 2.2pct to $43.47 while Rio Tinto (RIO) was off 3.2pct to $83.69 and iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) slumped 3pct to $6.58. Oil producer Woodside Petroleum (WPL) lost 2.9pct to $40.95 while Santos (STO) dropped 2.6pct to $12.76 and Oilsearch (OSH) eased by 2.8pct to $6.52. Caltex (CTX) fell 2pct to $13.05.

Financial stocks were generally weaker, with the exception of the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) which appeared to benefit from the switch out of resources. CBA, which received a broker upgrade yesterday, rose slightly to $49.90. Among the other big four, Westpac (WBC) fell 1.2pct to $21.93, the NAB (NAB) dropped 1.4pct to $24.43 and the ANZ (ANZ) lost 1.7pct to $22.82. Macquarie Group (MQG) eased by 1.1pct to $36.06.

Telstra (TLS) lost 0.8pct to $2.56.

Among the retailers, Harvey Norman (HVN) fell 1.9pct to $3.12 and David Jones (DJS) was off 1.3pct to $4.49.

Economic data released today revealed wages rose by 1.1pct in the September quarter. In annual terms wages are up 3.5pct on a year ago. Wage growth is once again outpacing the growth in consumer prices. Public sector wages continued to outstrip wage gains in the private sector. Compared with a year earlier, private wages were up just 3.5pct while public sector wages lifted by 4pct.

The Australian dollar ended the day's trade weaker against the major currencies. At 4pm AEDT the Aussie was worth US97.61c, £0.6145 and €72.28c.

On the market overall, a total of 2.53 billion shares were traded, worth $5.67 billion. 266 were up, 891 were down and 328 were unchanged.

At 4.15pm AEDT on the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was at 4634, down 79pts.

Ahead tonight in the US, consumer prices, housing starts and building permits data are released.