The Australian sharemarket has tumbled in early trade after a wild night on Wall Street, with US stocks erasing a big morning gain to close sharply lower as the market remains skittish following weeks of doubts and erratic moves.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 139.8 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 8412.9 shortly after the opening. All 11 industry sectors in negative territory, with tech and materials stocks plummeting.

Wall Street remains very nervy. Credit: Bloomberg

Mining stocks lost significant ground with iron ore giants BHP (down 3 per cent), Rio Tinto (down 2.5 per cent) and Fortescue (down 3.2 per cent) tumbling in early trade. Gold miners plummeted, with Northern Star and Evolution Mining losing around 4 per cent.

Westpac lost 2.2 per cent as the big four banks went backwards, with

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