ASX Today Live News & Analysis

<span annotation-id="1">About $43 billion has been wiped from Australia's share market, as oil prices surged after fighting between the US and Iran loomed over hopes of a peace deal.</span>

The S&P/ASX200 fell 133.7 points on Friday, down 1.51 per cent, to 8,744.4, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 126.5 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 8,980.5.

It was the exchange's worst day since mid-March, with 10 of 11 local sectors tumbling after the US and Iran accused each other of breaking an already fragile one-month ceasefire.

US President Donald Trump has claimed negotiations with Iran to end the conflict and reopen the Hormuz Strait - a choke point for a fifth of global oil and gas supplies - remained on track.

While the direction of the ASX move wasn't surprising, its magnitude was, Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.

''We're obviously really still underperforming our other global counterparts, despite what's otherwise been a pretty good week,'' he told AAP.

Local stocks were supported on Wednesday and Thursday by hopes of a peace deal and signals the Reserve Bank would now look to hold the cash rate steady after hiking it to 4.35 per cent on Tuesday.

However, most of those gains were wiped on Friday, with the ASX200 limping across the line to break a three-week losing streak by recording a 0.17 per cent advance over the five sessions.

Local banks weighed heavily, with the financials sector tumbling as Westpac led its big four competitors lower with a 4.8 per cent dump to $37.44.

It was a fourth straight week of losses for the segment, which makes up roughly a third of the exchange's total value.

Miners also dragged, down roughly one per cent and tracking with similar dips for BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, despite iron ore futures holding onto their recent gains.

Gold stocks edged lower, as the precious metal hovered near $US4,728 ($A6,539) an ounce, while battery minerals, copper producers and rare earths miners also fell.

Energy and utilities stocks sold off sharply despite the uplift in oil prices, dropping in-line with segment giants Woodside, Santos and Origin, and indicating an unwinding of index buying in recent days.

It was a similar story in other groupings, with Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Goodman Group and CSL weighing respectively on consumer staples, discretionaries, real estate and health-care stocks.

In company news, Tabcorp has cratered by more than a third since AUSTRAC announced an investigation over "serious concerns" about the group's anti-money laundering obligations.

Credit rating group Fitch said Tabcorp's potential compliance issues were unlikely to immediately impact the gambling group's (BBB/stable) rating.

Light & Wonder was the top-200's best performer, rebounding 11.7 per cent after selling off on the back of Thursday's trading update.

The Australian dollar is buying 72.24 US cents, down from 72.50 US cents on Friday at 5pm, trading near four-year highs since the Reserve Bank hiked the cash interest rate to 4.35 per cent on Tuesday.

ON THE ASX:

The S&P/ASX200 tumbled 133.7 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 8,744.4

The broader All Ordinaries fell 126.5 points, or 1.39 per cent, to 8,980.5

The NZX 50 Lost -95.48 points (-0.72%) to 13,175.13 while the Nikkei dropped -120.19 points (-0.19%) at the time of writing, to be closed at 62,713.65

Companies Holding Annual General Meeting (ASX 300):

QBE Insurance Group Limited

TPG Telecom Limited

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

Westpac Banking Corporation