Sydney, Oct 8 (DPA) Australian stocks tumbled 3.5 percent on the opening bell Wednesday in the wake of a further steep fall on Wall Street. In early trading the ASX 200 dropped 166 points, or 3.5 percent, to 4,452.

The Australian dollar fell again in early trade, dropping 2 US cents to 70 US cents as the flight out of commodities-linked currencies continues. The Aussie dollar was sold off along with the South African rand, the Canadian dollar and the New Zealand dollar.