The ASX fell back to a level not seen since October last year as investors continued to fret about the fallout from a potential trade war between the US and China.

The S&P/ASX 200 ended the day down 30 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5790, after dropping below the 5,800 level for the first time in more than five months. The All Ordinaries lost 27 points, or 0.5 per cent, to trade at 5901 while the Australian dollar traded at US77.18¢.

The losses followed a weak performance for Wall Street on Friday, where the Dow lost 1.8 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 2.1 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 2.4 per cent, after the US said late last week that it wanted to impose tariffs on China.

Speaking about the recent sharemarket losses, Romano Sala Tenna, portfolio manager at Katana Asset Management, said "the market was really looking for a reason to sell off."

For the ASX, 5,800 "is a great support level," he said, noting that the market has bounced from around this level quite a few times. The Dow is also near a strong support level, he noted.