[Morningstar with AAP]: The wild ride for the Australian share market has continued with a 330-point swing that turned its early strong gains into an afternoon loss.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark climbed by as much as 3.5 per cent to 5,366.4 in early trade before dropping most of the afternoon to finish Tuesday down 104.6 points, or 2.02 per cent, at 5,076.8.

The All Ordinaries index dropped 83.4 points, or 1.61 per cent, to 5,110.6.

"What a day, what a market," said CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.

"Up 185 points and then down 175. We are still in very abnormal and disruptive market conditions."

Even PMI data out of China showing its manufacturing activity unexpectedly bounced back in March, defying expectations, couldn't help the market.

On Monday the local bourse recorded its best day ever, a 7.0 per cent gain on the back of Australian government stimulus measures to help the economy.

"It looks like the positive sentiment that came out of the government stimulus package has now entirely worn off," Mr McCarthy said.

For the month the ASX200 closed down 21.2 per cent, and it finished out the quarter down 24.1 per cent in its worst quarterly decline ever.

The All Ordinaries fell 24.9 per cent in the quarter, its worst decline since December 1987, according to CommSec.

Every sector except energy, tech and property were lower, with consumer staples the worst hit, falling 5.85 per cent.

Woolworths dropped 8.0 per cent to $35.10 and Coles dropped 9.9 per cent to $15.16 in a reversal from recent trends in which the supermarkets escaped the brunt of the market carnage.

Wesfarmers dropped 4.5 per cent to $34.27 despite telling the market it had made another $130 million offloading another 5.2 per cent of Coles.

CSL traded as high as $325 - up $12.32 and within six per cent of its all-time high - before sinking to close down $16, or 5.1 per cent, at $296.68.

The big banks were mixed with Commonwealth down 3.3 per cent to $61.82, ANZ up 1.1 per cent to $16.96, NAB up 2.3 per cent to $16.68 and Westpac up 2.1 per cent to $16.50.

In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP dropped 4.0 per cent to $28.98 and Rio Tinto dipped 3.4 per cent to $84.57 over worries about prolonged shutdowns due to the coronavirus, while Fortescue Metals fell 1.0 per cent to $10.

Goldminers were also lower with Newcrest, Evolution, Northern Star and Regis Resources all down between 6.0 and 8.3 per cent and Resolute falling 12.4 per cent, making it the worst-performing ASX200 component on the day.

The real estate sector showed signs of life, rising 2.8 per cent as Mirvac rose 4.5 per cent and Vicinity Centres gained 6.2 per cent.

But Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield dropped 12 per cent to $4.31.

Virgin Australia gained 18.8 per cent to 9.5 cents after confirming it would seek a $1.4 billion bailout.

The Star Entertainment Group and G8 Education both rose after announcing they would defer their dividends for months, with the former up 5.4 cent and the latter soaring 19.3 per cent.

The Australian dollar was buying 61.99 US cents, up from 61.47 US cents as the market closed on Monday.

ON THE ASX:

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished on Tuesday down 104.6 points, or 2.02 per cent, at 5,076.8 points

The All Ordinaries closed down 1.61 points, or 83.4 per cent, at 5,110.6 points

At 1722 AEDT the SPI200 futures index was up 10 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,119 points

The NZX 50 added 135.56 points (1.38%) to 9,796.75 while the Nikkei dropped -167.96 points (-0.89%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 18,917.01

Companies commencing Ex-Dividend Trading Today (ASX 300):

AP Eagers Limited