The Australian share market slid on Europe's sovereign debt woes and lower commodity prices, with the energy sector one of the few bright spots. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34.2 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 4,584.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index fell 30.3 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 4,676.4.

On the ASX 24, the December share price index futures contract was down 26 points at 4,593 with 31,583 contracts traded. Market heavyweight BHP Billiton lost 50 cents, or 1.16 per cent, to $42.74, while rival Rio Tinto fell $1.63, or 1.94 per cent, to $82.21. Energy stocks fared better, with Oil Search up 10 cents, or 1.49 per cent, to $6.83 and Woodside Petroleum firming 24 cents, or 0.58 per cent, to $41.95.

The September GDP growth figure will be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. Woolworths lost 17 cents to $26.80, Wesfarmers declined 48 cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $31.46 and Myer Holdings fell three cents to $3.65. Metcash, Kathmandu Holdings, and The Reject Shop each lost over 2.5 per cent. Metcash said its guidance for the second half of its fiscal year is at risk if falling prices and rising business costs continue.

Australia's major lenders traded in negative territory. Commonwealth Bank fell 29 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $48.28 and Westpac slid 18 cents, or 0.84 per cent, to $21.37. ANZ Banking Group lost 12 cents to $22.66 and National Australia Bank eased eight cents to $23.45. Bank of Queensland was one of two bright spots among financials, gaining 15 cents, or 1.31 per cent, to $11.60 while QBE Insurance added 13 cents, or 0.78 per cent, to $16.83.

Among media stocks, News Corporation fell 15 cents, or 0.93 per cent, to $16.06 while its non-voting scrip dropped 15 cents, or 1.03 per cent, to $14.35. Telstra lost ground for the third consecutive trading session, closing down three cents, or 1.06 per cent, at $2.81. On Thursday last week the telco surged to a three month high of $2.88 after the government announced it would build the national broadband network. Singapore Telecommunications, owner of Optus, finished three cents weaker at $2.81 on Tuesday.

Casinos operator Crown said revenue from its Australian gaming and hotels operations since the start of the financial year are up on same period in 2009. Crown gave up three cents to $8.21.

Newly listed QR National gained three cents to $2.80 and is now trading 15 cents higher than its closing price when the company debuted on the market on November 22. Shares in Nufarm gained 10 cents, or 2.25 per cent, to $4.55 after the agrichemical company arranged a new $900 million loan that will refinance its existing debts due to expire on December 15.

PharmaNet Group was the top traded stock by volume, with 198.4 million shares traded for $2.28 million. PharmaNet's stock firmed 0.2 cents, or 28.57 per cent, to 0.9 cents. Preliminary national turnover reached 2.71 billion shares, worth $6.29 billion, with 462 shares up, 644 down and 376 unchanged.

The Australian dollar was hurt by a sharp fall in Shanghai's bourse Tuesday as investors speculated authorities in China could ramp up efforts to damp demand with tighter policy. But dealers don't expect the Aussie, a classic proxy for the high growth Asia trade, to quicken the pace of its decline. The Australian dollar traded at $0.9612, down from $0.9627 late Monday. Against the Japanese yen, the currency traded at 80.845, from 80.95.