The Australian share market has closed 0.7 per cent lower today in what was a mixed day for local stocks.
The close did not mirror yesterday's significant losses, but stock prices were fluctuating for most of the day.
The All Ordinaries Index initially opened 70 points higher, but ended the day 41 points lower at 5,670.
Chief economist with BT Financial group Chris Caton says there is a lot of investor uncertainty at the moment.
"Beginning with the subprime issue in the US we've had a shipwreck here and people are still looking to see how many bodies wash up on shore," she said.
Most of the miners have been hurt by a sharp decline in base metals prices.
The banking sector has fared better but it was still a volatile day of trading.
The Australian Dollar has lost 12 per cent in value over the past three weeks.
