The Australian share market has begun trade on Thursday sharply down, most sectors were substantially lower, with the only bright spark being the energy sector - which gained ground in the early trade.

At 10:42 a.m. (AEST), the main S&P/ASX 200 index was down 44.90 points, or 0.79 percent, to 5,664.20 points, while the wider-ranged All Ordinaries index was 44.10 points lower, or 0.76 percent, to be 5,725.60 points.

There were some big upward movers early, with Murray Goulburn (up 5.81 percent) rising with reports of multiple takeover bids, Compumedics (up 8.11 percent) gained, and Altura Mining (up 3.18 percent) also outperformed the local bourse.

There were some early losers, with miner ST Barbara (down 3.75 percent), Mcgrath (down 4.97 percent), and Superloop (down 6.69 percent) all struggling in the early action on the market on Thursday.

In the banking majors there was a mostly strong start, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (up 0.67 percent) after a multi-billion dollar sale of their CommInsure business, while Westpac (up 0.48 percent), the ANZ (flat for no gain), and the National Australia Bank (up 0.29 percent) held firm.

The miners struggled out of the gate, with BHP (down 0.10 percent), Rio Tinto (up 0.58 percent), Fortescue (down 1.03 percent), and Newcrest (down 2.66 percent).

In oil and gas, crude oil breaking the 50 U.S. dollar barrier helped the majors, with Woodside (up 0.78 percent), PNG-focussed Oil Search (up 1.92 percent), and Santos (up 2.30 percent).

Grocery giant Woolworths (down 0.22 percent) fell, while rivals Wesfarmers (down 0.53 percent) stumbled.

Telco giant Telstra (down 0.69 percent) took a hit, while iconic airline Qantas (down 1.87 percent) dove.

One Australian dollar was buying 80.14 U.S. cents, while crude oil was trading at 50.41 U.S. dollars per barrel.