Australian shares slumped to a six-month low in early trading today amid uncertainty about the strength of the US economy and new jobs data.

The S&P/ASX 200 index sunk 164.70 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 8388 just after opening AEDT, the lowest mark since May, reports the Australian Financial Review .

It came on the back of a wild day's trading on Wall Street.

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After initially soaring toward what seemed like its best day since May, with an early surge of 1.9 per cent, the S&P 500 erased all of it and fell 1.6 per cent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 386 points, or 0.8 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.2 per cent.

The sharpest losses again hit what used to be the market's biggest winners. Nvidia, cry

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