The Australian share market opened lower - but better than expected - as investors returned to normal trading after the public holiday.
At 1016 AEDT the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell 31.3 points, or 0.80 per cent, at 3,865.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 31.4 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 3,929.3.
Shaw Stockbroking senior dealer Jamie Spiteri said the market had opened better than expected after it closed more than two per cent down on Monday, when it shed about $34 billion in value.
He said greater liquidity in the market the day after the public holiday in New South Wales, the ACT and SA, would make the local market less likely to replicate the dramatic falls in US and Europe overnight.
Wall Street suffered another slump on Monday as concerns about the economy, contagion from the European debt crisis and rumours of an American Airlines bankruptcy dragged down markets.
Despite a brief rally on news that a key indicator of the health of the US manufacturing sector was better than expected, the main indexes ended the day firmly in the red.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 258.08 points (2.36 per cent) at 10,655.30 at the close, its lowest level since September 2010.
The S&P 500 fell 32.19 (2.85 per cent) to 1,099.23, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 79.57 points (3.29 per cent) to 2,335.83.
"Markets were a little bit susceptible to just falling in line with the rest of the trends around the region (on Monday) but today I think we might actually not fall away too dramatically," he said.
Mr Spiteri said that despite diminishing investor confidence on the back of the eurozone debt crisis, value was now being recognised in local shares.
"There's probably a little bit of interest here within Australia given we have got a lot of our major corporates that do generate earnings domestically ... and some of the falls in share prices are down to levels where there is value being recognised," he said.
All sectors fell at the open except telecom stocks, which rose 0.35 per cent, led by Telstra. The telco's shares gained two cents to $3.06.
Gold rose two per cent on Monday and is on track for its first three-day winning streak in a month, as bullion appears to have regained its poise as a safe haven against global economic uncertainty after its worst monthly loss in two years.
The spot price of gold in Sydney was $US1,664.6 per fine ounce, up $US30.72 from Monday's close of $US1,633.88.
Australia's biggest gold miner Newcrest Mining was among one of the only green spots on the market, up 56 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $34.12.
Consumer discretionary stocks were hit hardest, down 1.3 per cent. Department store giant David Jones was the weakest stock of the top 100 companies on the ASX, plunging 5.9 per cent to $2.85 after going ex-dividend.
Energy also fell one per cent after oil slumped overnight, at one point to its lowest level since September 2010 as fears of another recession spread.
Woodside Petroleum fell 1.3 per cent or 40 cents to $31.22, with Santos down 1.6 per cent or 18 cents to $10.90.
The December share price futures index (SPI) fell 16 points to 3,872 points, with 11,999 contracts traded.
Turnover was 209.4 million shares worth $662.33 million, with almost eight of every 10 stocks falling.
