The Australian stock market has recorded its worst session in 12 weeks amid fears of a worldwide economic slowdown.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 69 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 6,126.2 points at 1615 AEDT on Monday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 72.2 points, or 1.15 per cent, at 6,208.7.
It's the biggest drop for the local bourse since 1.57 per cent was shaved off the market's value on January 2, the first trading day of the year.
The fall comes amid fears for global growth, with London's FTSE, Germany's DAX and the three US indices all dropping at least 1.5 per cent on Friday following weaker-than-expected manufacturing and services data.
"I think volatility is going to be normal in 2019," said Bell Direct equities analyst Julia Lee.
Ms Lee said defensive stocks such as telecom shares, property and trusts and gold miners gained while growth stocks and those exposed to commodity prices dragged.
Tech shares were the biggest loser, down collectively 4.03 per cent, with Wisetech Global down 4.46 per cent to $22.28, Afterpay Touch down 5.33 per cent to $19.55 and Altium down 8.4 per cent to $32.07.
Energy shares were also hard hit, down 3.37 per cent, with Oil Search down 3.76 per cent to $8, Woodside Petroleum down 2.82 per cent to $34.79 and Beach Energy down 5.58 per cent to $2.03
Global miner BHP dropped 1.28 per cent to $37.13, South32 was down 2.84 per cent to $3.76 and Rio Tinto dropped 1.1 per cent to $93.13.
Most gold miners saw gains, with Newcrest up 3.19 per cent to $26.20.
But Dacian Gold dropped 7.35 per cent, to $2.27, after it said its gold production in Western Australia had been hurt by underground equipment availability issues
All the big banks were in the red, with ANZ down 2.26 per cent to $25.92, CBA down 0.91 per cent to $70.78, Westpac down 1.47 per cent to $26.12 and NAB down 0.88 per cent to $24.87.
Telstra gained 0.61 per cent to $3.30 and Spark New Zealand gained 2.88 per cent to $3.57.
Pharma giant CSL dropped 0.96 per cent to $195.30.
Freedom Foods Group gained 4.67 to $4.48 after it said it wasn't interested in buying Kirin Holding's Lion Dairy and Drinks Portfolio.
"No one wants to see a spending spree when global growth is down," said Ms Lee.
Real estate company McGrath dropped 7.69 per cent to 24 cents, an all-time low, saying after the close of trading on Friday that weak conditions in the property market were continuing.
The Aussie dollar has recovered some of its losses, buying 70.83 US cents, from 71.08 US cents on Friday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 69 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 6,126.2 points at 1630 AEDT on Monday.
* The All Ordinaries was down 72.2 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 6,208.7.
* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was flat at 6,108.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 70.83 US cents, from 71.08 US on Friday
* 77.90Japanese yen, from 78.76
* 62.66 euro cents, from 62.47
* 53.67 British pence, from 54.09
* 102.92 NZ cents, from 103.17
