Australian shares slide

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Australian shares have fallen 1.3 per cent with investors jittery about the US's political standoff that could force a default or downgrade of sovereign debt.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 59.6 points, or 1.31 per cent, at 4477.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index had dropped 59 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 4553.6.

US stocks fell sharply overnight, in the third consecutive day of losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 1.59 per cent and the broader S&P 500 tumbling 2.03 per cent.....read on