Sydney - More than 2 per cent was wiped off the value of Australian shares Thursday in response to a 4-per-cent fall on Wall Street.

The ASX 200 gave up 115 points, or 2.4 per cent, to close at 4,607.

A fourth day of losses was stemmed by bargain-hunting near the close that dragged the market up from an intraday low of 4,563.

Stocks are now languishing at a three-year low with finance sector counters the worst affected.

Locally owned Macquarie Bank fell a whopping 22 per cent - meaning the share price of the biggest listed investment bank has halved in the past month. The biggest high street bank, National Australia Bank, was down 4 per cent.

"It was always going to be a rough day on our market and we were down in the first half hour and continued to sell off pretty heavily to around 2 pm," said James Waggett, an analyst with Bell Potter Securities.

The bright spot was the gold mining sector, attendant on the soaring price of bullion. Newcrest Mining was up 14 per cent and Lihir Gold rocketed 16 per cent.

The hammering Macquarie received reflected concern that the bank could have difficulty refinancing 5 billion Australian dollars (4 billion US dollars) in debt. Macquarie said in a statement that it was well capitalized, with over 20 billion Australian dollars in liquid assets.

Macquarie shares, which fell 7.8 per cent Wednesday, are now trading at a 4-year low.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the "excessive provision of credit" needed to be addressed. "I think one of the lessons from what's occurred internationally is that may have been the case," Australia's finance minister added.

"But in this country our banking sector is well regulated and we have not suffered from the sort of lending standards you've seen in the United States."

The Australian dollar, which in August was predicted to reach parity with the US dollar, slipped again. It was last traded at 79 cents to the greenback. (dpa)