报纸上讲的原因。

losses.
At 10.15am (AEDT), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 81.5 points, or 2.16 per cent, at 3698.2, and the broader All Ordinaries index lost 79.6 points, or 2.14 per cent, to 3648.6.

"Market volatility is still out there causing some decent moves,'' ABN Amro Morgans Bri*****ane director of equities Bill Chatterton said.

''Today is going to be dominated by the negativity in the commodities sector and it will mostly be in the red.''

Resource stocks were in negative territory, weighing the market down.

BHP Billiton sank $1.56 to $31.04 while Rio Tinto decreased $2.02 to $44.91.

Light sweet crude for February delivery tumbled 12 per cent, or $US5.95, to settle at $US42.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The energy sector was also on a low.

In the energy sector, Santos shares fell 2.76 per cent to $14.79, Woodside Petroleum lost $2.16 to $36.61 and Oil Search sank 10 cents to $4.61.

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NEWS.com.au, 8 Jan 2009 Financials were having a hard time, with all the major players falling.

Westpac fell 25 cents to $16.62, NAB decreased 29 cents to $20.60, Commonwealth Bank dropped 45 cents to $29.50 and ANZ sank $1.04 to $15.19.

Gold stocks were down.

Lihir sank 4.21 per cent to $2.50, Newmont dropped 7.68 per cent to $5.05, and Newcrest fell $1.18 to $30.85.

At 10.42am, the price of gold in Sydney was $US837.75 per fine ounce, down $US22.00 on Wednesday's close of $US859.75.

In the media sector, News Corporation (the parent company of the publisher of news.com.au) was down 5.22 per cent at $13.60.

Fairfax dropped 1 cent to $1.71 and Consolidated Media decreased 6 cents to $1.97.

US stocks fell sharply overnight, as a handful of bleak profit outlooks and more evidence of escalating unemployment served as stark reminders the economy remains in rough shape.

The Dow Jones dropped 245.40 points, or 2.72 per cent, to 8,769.70.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index sank 28.05 points, or 3 per cent, to 906.65 points, while the Nasdaq was 53.32 points, or 3.23 per cent lower, at 1599.06.

In other news, Investment bank Macquarie Group's shares fell over 6 per cent in early trade after the group warned of extremely challenging market conditions in the December quarter.
Macquarie dropped $2.00 to $31.75.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was 91 points lower at 3684 on a volume of 4567 deals.