The sharemarket settled lower on Wednesday in a session of wild swings after risk-off sentiment prevailed on Wall Street and US technology stocks tumbled.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.4 per cent, or by 32.1 points, at 7828.3, snapping a three-day winning streak. Eight of 11 sectors traded in the red, led by utilities. The All Ordinaries slipped 0.4 per cent.

Australian investors were jittery, with the index swinging between gains and losses on Wednesday. Fears that President Donald Trump’s global trade war would harm the US economy are still weighing on sentiment after the S&P 500 Index –and the local bourse – plunged into correction territory last week.

Nvidia set the tone on Wall Street, dragging technology stocks lower after the chipmaker said it would need to increase production and spending to meet AI computation demand. The VIX index, a gauge of investor fear, jumped 5.8 per cent. Spot gold held near a record of $US3038.33 an ounce as traders dumped shares and flocked to haven assets.