Local stocks were heavily sold off in afternoon trade, as worries about Eurozone debt contagion and weakness in the Asian region unsettled investors. A lack of local economic data also contributed to the freefall. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 54.9pts or 1.2pct to 4676.9 while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) eased by 54.4pts or 1.2pct to 4589.1.

Energy, mining and financial stocks all dragged.

The S&P/ASX 200 Financials index fell 1.1pct with shares in Westpac (WBC) weaker by 1.9pct to $21.31 and the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) weaker by 1.1pct to $48.18. Shares in the NAB (NAB) fell 1.8pct to $23.56 while the ANZ (ANZ) came off 0.6pct to $22.34. Shares in Macquarie Group (MQG) eased by 1.8pct to $36.04.

Weaker metals trade in London dragged on the materials sector, along with a big fall on the Shanghai Composite. Shares in BHP Billiton (BHP) fell 1.7pct to $43.14 while Rio Tinto (RIO) was weaker by 1.4pct to $83.53 and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) closed down 3.3pct to $6.40. Australia's largest gold producer, Newcrest Mining (NCM) eased by 1.2pct to $39.41 as the price of gold held steady at US$1358 an ounce.

Among energy players, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) fell 2.1pct to $40.56 while Santos (STO) shed 2.4pct to $12.38.

Qantas (QAN) announced today that some of its A380 superjumbos will resume flights this weekend, following an incident which caused the grounding of its A380 fleet. QAN shares added 0.4pct to $2.64.

Telstra (TLS) shares also bucked the trend, rising 3.4pct to $2.74.

In the retail sector, shares in Myer Limited (MYR) fell 1.8pct to $3.74 after announcing management changes. David Jones (DJS) shares eased by 1.3pct to $4.54 while Harvey Norman (HVN) fell 2.3pct to $3.04.

Fairfax (FXJ) shares eased 2.2pct to $1.355 after the media company unveiled a new business structure which will see the combination of key mastheads and websites into a single unit.

Shares in the Ten Network (TEN) fell 3.3pct to $1.595. Billionaire Gina Rinehart has followed James Packer into the business, picking up a 10pct stake in the television company.

Internet service provider iiNet (IIN) rose 3.1pct to $2.65 in the wake of the company's AGM.

QR National (QRN) rose a further 0.4pct to $2.66, a day after listing on the ASX.

New Zealand Oil and Gas (NZO) shares fell 25pct to $0.69 after resuming trade for the first time since Friday's explosion at the Pike River coal mine in New Zealand. NZO has tried to downplay the significance of Pike River Coal (PRC) in its portfolio, PRC shares remain suspended, last at $0.61.

No economic data was released today and the Australian dollar eased against all the major currencies. At 4pm AEDT the Aussie was worth US98.44c, £0.6182 and €72.53c.

On the market overall, a total of 3.06 billion shares were traded, worth $5.65 billion. 371 were up, 756 were down and 385 were unchanged.

At 4.15pm AEDT on the ASX24, the futures contract was at 4599, down 66pts.

Ahead tonight, third quarter GDP data is released in the US, along with existing homes sales and the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting.