The Australian sharemarket has slumped at the open after Wall Street sank to its second-worst day since April amid questions over whether AI stocks are overvalued and whether the eagerly anticipated cuts to US interest rates will actually happen.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 140.2 points, or 1.6 per cent, in early trade, with losses across the board.

Financial stocks were punished and the big four banks were all sharply lower. ANZ led the way with a 2 per cent drop while Commonwealth Bank (down 1.7 per cent), NAB (down 1.7 per cent), and Westpac (down 1.5 per cent) were also deep in the red.

Mining stocks lost ground, with gold miners heavily hit. Northern Star (down 4.9 per cent) Newmont (down 4.2 per cent) and Evolution Mining (down 4.6 per cent) plunged in early trade. Among the iron ore

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