Australian share market tumbles at close

The Australian share market has had a sharp fall on Wednesday with most of its sectors closing in the red.

At the close, the S&P ASX/200 index was down 83 points, or 1.52 percent, at 5,359.8 points, and the All Ordinaries was down 81.2 points,or 1.47 percent, at 5,442.1 points.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner told Xinhua that the Australian share market had suffered the most severe blow out of all the Asian share markets today.

"It's just one of those days where it is difficult to explain the movement... we had weaker lead's from the U.S. markets as well," Spooner said.

He added a combination of factors had brought the market down to its largest daily fall in six weeks as investors found little positive news to provide upward drive.

At the close, ANZ was down 0.91 percent, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia declined 1.38 percent, the National Australia Bank lost 1.22 percent and Westpac fell 0.97 percent.

BHP Billiton shed 1.51 percent, rival Rio Tinto rose 1.70 percent while gold miner Newcrest was 0.18 percent higher.

Oil Search lost 3.01 percent, Santos dropped 2.97 percent while Woodside Petroleum slipped 1.87 percent.

Wesfarmers tumbled 5.71 percent while rival Woolworths retreated 0.51 percent lower.

Qantas sank 3.47 percent while telecommunication giant Telstra's shed 0.99 percent on Wednesday's close. Endit