Australian shares slipped on Tuesday, pressured by losses across nearly all sectors, which outweighed gains in heavyweight miners, even as gold stocks hit record highs.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.3% to 8,898.1, as of 0043 GMT.
The benchmark index closed 0.5% lower on Monday.
The benchmark index fell as much as 0.4% earlier in the session, marking its lowest level since August 20, as Australian equities traded largely on domestic signals in the absence of direction from Wall Street, which was closed overnight for the Labour Day holiday.
Heavyweight miners pared some of its earlier gains to rise 0.3%, driven by higher copper prices on upbeat manufacturing data from top metals consumer, China, and a weaker dollar.
Among sector majors, BHP Group rose 0.6%, while Pilbara Minerals lost 2.1%.
Gold stocks rose 0.5%, having hit a record high earlier in the session on stronger prices for bullion.
Evolution Mining advanced 1%. Financials traded largely flat, with all the “Big Four” lenders rising between 0.2% and 0.5%.
However, widespread losses across the rest of the index continued to weigh on the benchmark, putting it on track for a third straight session of declines.
Energy stocks fell 1% despite a rise in global oil prices. Sector giant Woodside Energy shed 0.7% while once a takeover target, Santos, fell 2.6%, hitting its worst level since August 25 earlier in the session.
Health stocks joined the bandwagon, losing 0.8% while biotech giant CSL fell 0.8%.
Among other sectors, consumer staples lost 1.4%, dragged down by heavy selling in grocer Woolworths, which fell 3.3%. Technology stocks fell 0.4% while real estate firms lost 0.9%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.4% to 13,125.78, hitting its highest since August 25.
The index was on its track to log its fourth consecutive session of gains.
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