Broad-based falls capped off a disappointing week for the Australian sharemarket as concerns about Wall Street, commodity prices and offshore fund liquidation mounted.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 102.4 points or 2.1% at 4877.1 after hitting one-month low of 4837.6. The index lost 5.0% for the week, giving up nearly three quarters of its rise of the preceding four weeks.

Thursday's 3.0% fall on Wall Street, a steep decline in commodity prices and the collapse of the US$2.8 billion Ospraie Commodity Fund hurt the S&P/ASX 200. The Reuters/Jefferies-CRB Index was down 4.4% for the week to date.

The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Ex-Property Trusts index fell 3.1% after the U.S. financials index fell 5.3% after Pimco's Bill Gross warned that the credit crunch could get worse, Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 3.1% to A$41.59, National Australia Bank fell 4.3% to A$23.60, Westpac fell 2.8% to A$23.35 and ANZ fell 3.9% to A$16.26. Macquarie Group fell 4.7% to A$42.00, it's lowest weekly closing price since November 2004.

The Australian dollar hit a 13-month low of US$0.8102. Aristocrat rose 2.9% to A$6.33, CSR rose 1.3% to A$2.34 and Newcrest rose 3.0% to A$21.77. Qantas rose 1.1% to A$3.60 after Nymex crude oil fell US$1.46 to US$107.86 overnight. For resources, buying was mainly limited to stocks with relative earnings certainty from contracted prices for iron ore and coal.

BHP Billiton closed down 0.3% at A$37.00 after bouncing to A$37.20 from A$36.30, while Rio Tinto closed down 1.4% at A$110.08 after bouncing to A$111.20 from A$108.10. OZ Minerals fell 7.3% to A$151.50, Alumina fell 1.3% to A$3.68 and Lihir Gold fell 4.0% to A$1.92. Fortescue, which is ramping up iron ore production to 55 million tons per annum and has a long-term target of 120 million tons per annum, fell 7.3% to A$6.39.

Incitec Pivot fell 5.6% to A$133.12 as its offshore peers continued to slide, with Mosaic down 5.7% overnight.

Dow Jones Newswires