SYDNEY, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market has suffered its largest single-day dive in over two years on Tuesday, with indexes around the world in freefall.
At the close of trade, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index plummeted 192.20 points or 3.20 percent at 5,833.30, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 198.20 points or 3.23 percent at 5,930.20.
With fears of higher than expected inflation creeping into the U.S. economy following an uptick in wage data last Friday, investors around the globe have been spooked.
In total, 55 billion U.S. dollars were wiped from the value of the Australian index Tuesday with energy shares, info tech and healthcare the hardest hit.
In the financial space, Australia's big banks plunged lower with The Commonwealth Bank down (3.01 percent), Westpac Bank down (3.13 percent), National Australia Bank down (2.98 percent) and ANZ down (2.99 percent).
Mining stocks struggled with BHP down (2.72 percent), Rio Tinto down (1.40 percent), Fortescue Metals down (1.00 percent) and Newcrest Mining down (0.97 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers slumped with Woodside Petroleum down (3.93 percent), Santos down (4.44 percent) and Oil Search down (3.26 percent).
Australia's largest supermarket chains also felt the pressure with Wesfarmers down (2.75 percent) and Woolworths down (2.97 percent).
While telecommunications giant Telstra sank (3.04 percent), the national carrier Qantas lost (2.83 percent) and biomedical firm CSL fell (4.06 percent).
