“While I expect the market will rise for one or two weeks, the down move is not yet over, with the All Ordinaries Index likely to fall to between 6,390 and 6,220 points in September,” Mr Gillham said.

He said further declines were likely to come from speculative investors who had bought up cheap shares following this month’s turbulent reporting season results withdrawing from the market again.

“Investors get excited when stocks have fallen heavily, such as AMP in recent weeks, and jump in believing they will get a bargain,” Mr Gillham said.

“This causes the stock to rise for a short period of time, only for the buyers to run out of steam and for the stock to start falling again.”

However, following some potential declines in September, the sharemarket was likely to resume positive growth in the longer term, which meant investors should be on the lookout for buying opportunities over the next month, he said.

“We know that you should never make decisions on speculation, and right now the market needs time to settle and to find support before the next rise,” he said.

“Make no mistake, the Australian sharemarket is bullish and will continue to be so over the medium to long term. For those who are patient, there will be some great opportunities to buy in the not-too-distant future.”