Investors liberated from returns as shares slide lower

In early trading the top 200 had sunk as much as two per cent to levels not seen since August 2024.

The grim session followed Wall Street bloodbath overnight, with the S&P500 falling 4.85 per cent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq tanked nearly six per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.98 per cent as $US2.4 trillion ($A3.8 trillion) was wiped from markets.

"Headlines of stocks seeing their worst day since 2020 are bad, but it's going to get a lot worse," Moomoo market strategist Jessica Amir said.

"Retaliatory tariffs from other countries, when announced, will pressure stocks lower."

So far, Canada has announced a 20 per cent tariff on all US vehicles, while China and the European Union have also vowed to retaliate.

US futures slumped early in the Asian session but have since eased, with the Nasdaq up 0.05 per cent, and S&P500 futures down 0.06 per cent.

Nine of 11 local sectors were trading lower, with the defensive consumer staples beating the market with a 1.3 per cent gain, and health care stocks up 0.4 per cent.

Coles shares were up 2.2 per cent to $20.74, while Woolworths was up 2.4 per cent to $30.82 as investors found safe haven in the grocery giants.

Energy stocks have drained, down 5.6 per cent and tracking with a more than five per cent slump in oil prices overnight, as crude demand expectations crumbled under the weight of the tariffs.

Brent crude futures are down almost eight per cent since the "Liberation Day" announcement, and have slipped below the $US70 level for the first time since mid-March.

IT stocks were down 4.5 per cent by midday, in-line with the overnight Nasdaq sell-off.

Interestingly, the generally defensive utilities sector was the third-worst performing sector as the energy price slump weighed on future profit expectations.

Materials and financials stocks, which account for about half the value on the local bourse, were each down more than 1.3 per cent.

NAB was the best performer of the big four banks, trading flat, and ANZ was in fourth, down 2.0 per cent after agreeing to boost its capital buffer by $250 million over risk concerns.

Investment giant Macquarie was even lower, shedding 3.9 per cent to trade at $183.86.

Iron ore miners have pared early losses but still have a long way to go, with Fortescue flat and BHP and Rio Tinto down one per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, as the trade war clouds growth expectations for China, the world's biggest steel producer.

Gold miners have continued to lead performance in the top 200 as investors run for the safe haven, and appliance giant Breville was hurting the most, down almost 11 per cent as it mulls its China-focused manufacturing and the US accounting for two-fifths of sales.

One silver lining for borrowers keenly awaiting the next Reserve Bank meeting, interest rate markets have now fully priced-in a 25 basis point cash rate cut in May.

The Australian dollar was up against the greenback, buying 63.19 US cents, up from 62.88 US cents on Thursday at 5pm.