Trace of panic in sell-off Market darlings like the big banks and Telstra were hit particularly hard today. Australian shares were caught in a global rout today, suffering their worst daily loss in more than two months. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index slumped 103 points, or 2 per cent, to 5062.4, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 101.3 points, or 2 per cent, to 5040.8. The sell-off wiped more than $30 billion off the value of the share market. Investors were rattled by a combination of two things: hawkish comments by US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and weakness in China's factory activity. Stock and currency markets took their cue from the drop in US equities and bonds after Bernanke's remarks at a Congressional hearing sparked worries of an earlier than expected reduction in US monetary stimulus. A weak manufacturing survey from China added to concerns about a delayed recovery in the world's second-largest economy and furthered those losses. Markets fell around the region. Japan's Nikkei index slumped 7.3 per cent, as investors rushed to take profits in the Tokyo market's biggest slide since the tsunami and nuclear catastrophe in March 2011. The stock slide weighed on the local dollar, which dropped as far as 95.93 US cents, its lowest since October 2011. The four major banks and Telstra were the biggest losers as early falls extended throughout the day. CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the sell-off was based on sentiment rather than facts. ""We've had a bit of a panic today,"" Mr McCarthy said. ""With that negative start, we've seen the selling accelerate over the course of the session."" He said investors had been concerned about all-time highs on the US market. ""The first signal that the US could be pulling back from there has seen them jump out the window,"" Mr McCarthy said. Mr McCarthy noted the major local losers were previous favourites such as the four major banks and Telstra. ANZ fell $1.17 cents to $28.13, Commonwealth Bank was off $1.99 at $69.71, National Australia Bank backpedalled $1.01 cents to $31.70 and Westpac was $1.27 lower at $29.92. The major miners were also in negative territory. BHP Billiton slipped 39 cents to $34.88 and Rio Tinto was down $1.20 cents at $55.10. Telstra was 19 cents, or 3.7 per cent, lower at $4.95 after the company, on Wednesday, unveiled a restructure of its internal operations. Making news today, James Hardie was down nine cents at $10.36 after it reported a 92 per cent decline in full year net profit. Changes to its asbestos liabilities and the effect of legal battles with the tax office hit the building products maker's bottom line. DuluxGroup shares were 19 cents lower at $4.61 after it said it was stopping supplying its premium paint and woodcare products from Masters and Danks corporate stores to work more closely with other partners. .