At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 58.20 points or 0.95 percent at 6,097.40, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 62.10 points or 0.98 percent at 6,295.20.
Local shares followed global markets lower as the Aussie tech mirrored heavy losses on the U.S. Nasdaq, with sector heavyweight Afterpay down 4.09 percent.
"Record levels of new COVID-19 infections in parts of Europe and the U.S. rattled markets overnight," CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy explained.
"Stocks slumped and bonds rose as investors re-calibrated growth expectations as new containment measures become increasingly likely."
Global apprehensions spread to local investors, with all sectors trending lower and energy, consumer discretionaries and communications weighing particularly heavily.
In the financial space, the big banks sank with Commonwealth Bank down (0.75 percent), Westpac Bank down (0.48 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.98 percent) and ANZ down (0.61 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly lower with BHP down (0.90 percent), Rio Tinto down (0.78 percent) and Fortescue Metals down (1.33 percent), however goldminer Newcrest was up (0.43 percent)
The country's oil and gas producers slumped with Oil Search down (1.71 percent), Santos down (2.26 percent) and Woodside Petroleum down (1.40 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets were mixed with Coles up (0.41 percent), and Woolworths down (0.34 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra dropped (0.91 percent), the national carrier Qantas lost altitude (1.31 percent) and biomedical firm CSL fell (1 percent).
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