At 10:10 am (0015 GMT), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was down 83.5 points at 3,988.3. It followed the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 2.49 percent after measures by the Federal Open Market Committee to support the US economy left investors cold. At the same time, the Fed pointed to "significant downside risks to the economic outlook". The Australian dollar tumbled back towards parity with the greenback on the news. It was trading at 100.36 US cents early in the session, down sharply from it’s from 102.81 US cents close on Wednesday. Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011