Disappointing analysts and investors who were now expecting it to perform better, the Australian share market recorded a sharp 2% fall on Monday following huge drops in commodity prices and the Wall Street. The decline, which came during the debut of the departmental store chain Myer's shares, was seen by financial and resources stocks the most.

Most hurt during the market's sharp fall was Myer, shares of which had been listed for the first time on the Australian market atop a $2 Billion IPO float. The shares opened at $3.88 per share, 5.4% lower than the issue price of $4.10.

"There's not much for the market to hang its hat on today, unfortunately", said Burrell Stockbroking director Richard Herring. "It is two per cent down across the board and pretty consistent through most sectors".

Woodside was the only winner in the weak market, which was consistently dragged down by banking, financial and resources stocks.