The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped as much as 1.78 per cent in early trading but ultimately closed 72.2 points, or 0.91 per cent lower, to 7890.1, as the All Ordinaries fell 88.3 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 8103.4.
More than $23 billion had been wiped from the top 200's combined market cap by the close and the index has fallen 8.5 per cent from its Valentine's Day, all-time peak of 8615.2.
Since then, the Australian share market has traded lower in 13 of the subsequent 17 sessions.
"It was a bit of a delayed reaction for the ASX200, it was caught very much in the downdraft of Wall Street," IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore told AAP.
The local bourse tracked with a tech-led sell-off on Wall St overnight, after US President Donald Trump refused to rule out the possibility of a US recession and soft jobs and inflation figures collided with the uncertainty swirling around the controversial leader's trade war.
The downturn rippled in Asian markets with Japan's Nikkei and Taiwan stocks giving up around 3 per cent in early trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.5 per cent and China's CSI300 was down about 1 per cent.
Strong relative performances by banks and miners helped the Australian share market claw back some early losses, while dip-buyers helped push Nasdaq futures up and settle nerves during the northern hemisphere's non-trading period.
But any relief rally off those lows could prove short-lived, Mr Sycamore said.
"I just don't see it being a sustainable rally at this point of time," he said.
"I don't think the stock market is a high priority of the White House administration at this point in time and the fact that we've seen these tariffs come just quicker and more broadly than anticipated, I just don't think (Trump) is going to walk them back."
Markets whipsawed last week after the US imposed and then delayed new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, its biggest trading partners. It doubled duties on China, which responded by slapping reciprocal tariffs on US agricultural products this week.
The US will on Wednesday impose 25 per cent duties on all steel and aluminium imports, including from allies such as Australia and Japan, which failed to win carve-outs.
Mr Trump's plans for reciprocal tariffs on all nations that impose duties on the US are set to take effect from April 2.
Only three of 11 ASX sectors finished in the green, with utilities up 1.4 per cent, followed by energy stocks, up 0.8 per cent, and consumer staples, which edged 0.05 per cent higher.
IT stocks were the worst performing sector, giving up 4 per cent, followed by industrials stocks, which lost 2.0 per cent, and health care stocks, which were down 1.8 per cent.
Financials gave up 0.7 per cent, after some mixed performances from the big four banks, with CBA losing 0.8 per cent to trade at $146.92 per share, as ANZ and Westpac gained 1.0 per cent and NAB traded flat.
The Australian dollar is buying 62.68 US cents, down from 63.16 US cents at 5pm on Monday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday fell 72.2 points on Tuesday, or 0.91 per cent, to 7890.1.
* The broader All Ordinaries was down 88.3 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 8103.4.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 62.68 US cents, up from 63.16 US cents at 5pm AEDT on Monday
* 92.29 Japanese yen, from 93.22 yen
* 57.82 euro cents, from 58.29 euro cents
* 48.67 British pence, from 48.94 pence
* 110.32 NZ cents, from 110.42 NZ cents
