Sydney - Australian stocks lost 2.4 per cent of their value Thursday as investors bailed out of the market on fears that share prices have overshot corporate profits.

The ASX 200 gave up 110 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 3,464 in a fourth straight day of losses. CommSec chief economist Craig James said the market had risen 6 per cent in eight trading sessions and that such astonishing gains had proved unsustainable.

"There's nothing fundamental driving losses today other than the good news has dried up," he told Australia's AAP news agency. "It's basically because investors around the world got a little bit too excited about economic prospects and were pushing shares too far, too fast, and we're paying the price for that exuberance now."

James noted that the market was still up 47 per cent on its March lows.