The Australian sharemarket extended losses in lunchtime trade, hitting a five-month low as tech stocks slumped amid rising concerns on global markets about the sector’s high valuations created by the frenzy around artificial-intelligence. James Hardie shares jumped after a profit upgrade.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 101 points, or 1.25 per cent, to 8528.50 as of 12.22pm AEDT, the lowest since late June, as the tech sector plunged 5.4 per cent, while miners, banks, retailers and energy stocks were also lower. The ASX finished flat on Monday . The Australian dollar was fetching US64.89¢ at 12.34pm AEDT.

Technology shares were sharply lower after heavy losses by AI giant Nvidia and other tech superstars on Wall Street overnight. Software makers WiseTech Global and Xero were down 5.1 per cent and

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