At the market close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 270.90 points, or 5.30 percent, at 4,842.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 261.00 points, or 5.08 percent, at 4,874.20.
"The ASX 200 opened higher by 115 points or 2.2 percent but has slipped into negative territory at lunch. The index is now down 32 points or 0.6 percent to 5,080 and unable to follow the surge on Wall Street," Commsec market analyst James Tao said.
The drop on Friday reduced the benchmark's weekly gains to 0.5 percent.
All sectors were lower, led by Health Care , which lost 7.10 percent. Financials and energy followed, both recorded over 5 percent drop.
In the financial space, Australia's big banks dived with the Commonwealth Bank down (6.70 percent), ANZ down (7.37 percent), National Australia Bank down (6.32 percent) and Westpac Bank down (7.05 percent).
Mining stocks were all slumped with Rio Tinto down (2.67 percent), BHP down (5.35 percent) and Fortescue Metals down (8.75 percent), goldminer Newcrest down (4.93 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers plummeted with Oil Search down (3.29 percent), Santos down (10.03 percent) and Woodside Petroleum down (6.44 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets plunged with Coles down (4.96 percent), and Woolworths down (5.26 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dived (3.80 percent), the national carrier Qantas plummeted (4.31 percent) and biomedical firm CSL were sharply lower (7.57 percent).
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