Australia shares tumble 3.8 pct to two-year lows

In Australia, the <strong>marketstrong> on Monday lifted more than 1 per <strong>centstrong> on the back of a strong performance by the banks and a big merger in the telco sector.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen BHP off six per cent, but that’s what is happening today and the worry is that the rout is not yet done”, Australian Stock Report head of research Chris Conway said.

However, Europe’s main stock markets rebounded strongly as traders welcomed a few clarity from Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen on the outlook for U.S. interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.70 per cent on Friday, although the tech-rich Nasdaq fell one per cent.

Financial stocks were trading higher in the local market.

Oil Search was down 12 cents to $7.44, Santos lost three cents at $4.62.

The benchmark index plummeted 2.3 per cent to 4997.9, wiping $35 billion off the market’s value.

An encouraging outcome following last week’s 2.5 percent drop.

At Tuesday’s, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 195.1 points, or 3.82 percent, lower at 4,918.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 187.0 points, or 3.63 percent, at 4,958. 1.

The “Big Australian” was down 5.5 per cent to $21.88 by 10:15am (AEST), its lowest share price since November 2008.

– National turnover was 371.565 million securities worth $871.789 million.