Aussie shares retreated today, giving back just over half of the gains made in yesterday's session.

Still, it could have been a lot worse for the market, which was down more than 50 points at one stage.

The morning sell-off was sparked by last night's poor finish on Wall Street, was attributed to fears of a trade war between Russia and the West following a stern warning from President Obama.

The energy and financial sectors led the afternoon recovery, whilst materials were the main drags on the market.

Energy stocks were buoyed by a rally in oil prices overnight. Woodside climbed 0.1% and Oil Search jumped 1.6%.

CBA was the only big four bank to record a gain, up 0.2%. Westpac shed 0.2% whilst NAB and ANZ were both flat.

Three mining majors suffered steep declines. Fortescue dropped 1.3%, BHP let go of 1.6% and Rio Tinto fell 0.8%.

Gold stocks were punished yet gain on the back of weaker bullion prices. Alacer Gold tumbled 8.8% and Newcrest gave up another 3.3%.

The ASX 200 lost 27 points (-0.5%) to 5350.

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