The benchmark S&P/ASX200 has fallen 3.7 per cent, or 210.1 points, so far in September.

Of the losses in September, the big four banks are responsible for 90.9 points, or 43.3 per cent, of the fall.

The August earnings season saw the Commonwealth Bank report yet another full-year record profit of $8.6 billion, ANZ banked $5.2 billion in the nine months to June and National Australia Bank lifted third-quarter profit by 7 per cent to $1.7 billion.

ANZ, NAB and Westpac's financial year ends in September. Westpac does not give quarterly updates.

"The levels of earnings growth in the banks seen in the past few years is unlikely to be repeated in the future," Philo Capital head of listed equities Hugh Dive said.

Over the past three years, a massive reduction in bad debt impairments has driven profit growth for the big banks.

Bad debt charges for the Commonwealth Bank improved over the year to a low 16 basis points. However, Mr Dive said they are unlikely to come down further and will head up.

A lack of credit growth will also hold banks back, Mr Dive said.

"From speaking to a lot of companies, in those meetings the key themes that came across [are] a lot of them are borrowing money, but they're not borrowing it from Australia, they're borrowing it from overseas for 10 years and they're getting excellent rates," he said.

"That's happening from big companies to small companies."

Across the market, there has been disappointment from investors who were looking for revenue growth to help justify equity valuations.

"The theme going into reporting season was about solid growth and yield. Did companies actually deliver on those expectations by doing buybacks or raising dividends and doing so in a way that people thought was going to work out and be sustainable?" Credit Suisse analyst Damien Boey said.

"From that perspective, it was a little bit disappointing."

It was hoped that growth in house prices would help propel sales and employment growth, but that story didn't really play out, with economic data continuing to be mixed, Mr Boey said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has signalled that it is unlikely to cut interest rates again. Analysts are increasingly convinced that the next move will be up.

"This matters because the whole market has been very focused on yield and distribution for a long time, and that story works out for as long as interest rates are falling, because firms are incentivised to return capital to shareholders," Mr Boey said.

"As soon as you see a central bank decide maybe they'll turn the other way, then the market starts to think differently."

More then 20 stocks on the benchmark S&P/ASX200 have slumped into correction in September.

A negative correction is a 10 per cent fall from a recent high.

The list is dominated by second- and third-tier resources companies, including Arrium, down 41.4 per cent, BC Iron, down 28.5 per cent, and Lynas, down 28.1 per cent.

"A feature of mining booms and busts, especially on the small end, [is] it works very well for companies when they have massive leverage when the iron ore price is going up because they're generally high-cost operators," Mr Dive said.

"But on the way down, these companies fall by the wayside and aren't around for the next mining boom."

Resources stocks are down heavily from their 52-week highs as the price of Australia's most valuable commodity, iron ore, has fallen close to 40 per cent.

Arrium has fallen more than 75 per cent from its 12-month high, while Lynas and BC Iron have also been hit incredibly hard, down more than 72 per cent and more than 63 per cent respectively.

This week, 11 stocks on the benchmark S&P/ASX200 hit a 52-week low. They include, Arrium, Seven Group Holdings, Seven West Media, Crown Resorts, JB Hi-Fi and Mineral Resources, among others.

Australian companies with exposure to the US dollar, as well as big miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, is where money is shifting to, Mr Dive said.

"There's been a weakness in the yield plays. What we can see is that people are moving out of the banks and into the big miners and also the US dollar plays," he said.

"More people are talking about QBE, Sonic Health Care, Amcor, companies that generate a lot of money offshore."

Of the winners in September, oil and gas player AWE leads, up 13.8 per cent. Others include, Alumina, TPG Telecom, Recall, Veda and Virtus Health.