The Australian share market has closed more than one per cent lower, led by steep falls among the major banks.
The Australian share market has closed more than one per cent lower, led by steep falls among the major banks.
At 1615 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 79.7 points, or 1.57 per cent, at 5,004.5 points.
The broader All Ordinaries index was down 75.4 points, or 1.46 per cent, at 5,076.5 points.
The June share price index futures contract was down 82 points at 4,987 points, with 28,437 contracts traded.
National turnover was 1.8 billion securities traded, worth $3.9 billion.
All sectors finished in negative territory with the biggest losses coming from the financials.
The big four banks each tumbled by more than two per cent on Tuesday, continuing Thursday's aggressive sell-off.
Trading volumes was also lighter than usual in the wake of the long Easter weekend.
Investors are still worried about bad debts linked to the mining sector slump after ANZ and Westpac warned about exposure to the down-turned resources industry on Thursday, Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said.
"I think the sell-off has been grossly overdone," he said.
"ANZ's statement about bad debts is small time compared to the value of their total assets."
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dipped below 5,000 during afternoon trade but recovered some ground by the close.
ANZ has warned that its bad debts will jump by at least $100 million for the first half of its financial year, while Westpac increased its debt provisions because of bad consumer loans in the resource-heavy states of Western Australia and Queensland.
At 1615 AEDT, ANZ had fallen 82 cents, or 3.41 per cent, to $23.20, Westpac had declined 92 cents, or 2.98 per cent, to $29.93, Commonwealth Bank had lost $1.70, or 2.27 per cent, to $73.12, and National Australia Bank had dropped 64 cents, or 2.44 per cent, to $25.62.
Oil and iron ore price declines weighed on the resource stocks.
Among the major miners, global miner BHP Billiton was down 29 cents to $16.71, Rio Tinto was 16 cents off at $42.14, and Fortescue Metals was minus 3 cents to $2.54.
Oil and gas producer Santos was flat at $4.03, while Woodside Petroleum was 30 cents lower at $26.64.
