Australian stockmarket: Around $37b wiped out in Australian share market carnage

The local share market has fallen to an almost four-month low, wiping out $37 billion in market value, and is on track for its worst day in 10 weeks amid a global pullback in risk assets.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index had fallen 125.1 points, or 1.43 per cent, to 8,628.3 at midday on Friday, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 132.4 points, or 1.47 per cent, to 8,902.1.

The plunge comes after a similar sell-off on Wall Street, where the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both dropped 1.7 per cent.

Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said there was no single smoking gun that had triggered a broad reduction in risk positioning, but the drawdown had been pronounced.

“Looking across the suite of investible markets there were few places to hide, with volatility the obvious winner on the day,” he said.

Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda said it was a story of interest rate expectations as critical data loomed that could either help or hinder the pricing-in of those expectations.

Markets were also reacting to an unwinding of the AI trade, which was losing momentum amid concerns valuations were too rich, Mr Rodda said.

All 11 sectors of the ASX were in the red at midday, with technology by far the biggest loser, dropping 4.1 per cent.

Life360 had fallen 6.3 per cent, taking its losses for the week to more than 20 per cent, while Xero had dropped 2.9 per cent, Wisetech Global had fallen 3.6 per cent and Megaport had retreated 8.4 per cent.

All of the big four banks were deep in the red, with CBA dropping 1.7 per cent to a seven-month low of $157.54, ANZ falling 1.8 per cent, Westpac subtracting 1.5 per cent and NAB also dropping 1.7 per cent.

The heavyweight mining sector was also in retreat, with BHP falling 1.9 per cent, Fortescue dropping 1.8 per cent and Rio Tinto subtracting 1.7 per cent.

Goldminers were not doing any better even as the precious metal changed hands for about $US4,184 an ounce.

Northern Star had dropped 3.8 per cent, Evolution had retreated 3.7 per cent and Westgold had fallen 4.6 per cent.

A handful of names were in the green, including lithium miners Pilbara and Liontown, which had climbed 0.9 and 0.7 per cent, respectively, and Santos, which was up 1.0 per cent.

The ASX200 has now dropped more than five per cent in the three and a half weeks since it hit an all-time high of 9,094 on October 21.

It is still up 5.8 per cent since the start of the year, but down 2.4 per cent so far this quarter.

The Australian dollar was buying 65.37 US cents, from 65.57 US cents at 5pm on Thursday.

Cryptocurrencies were also struggling, with Bitcoin falling below $US99,000 earlier on Friday for the first time since April.

At midday, the original cryptocurrency was changing hands for $US99,460 ($A152,000), down 2.7 per cent in the past 24 hours.