At the market close the benchmark ASX 200 index lost 31.90 points, or 0.47 percent, at 6,797.60, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 31.00 points, or 0.44 percent, at 7,049.90.
The ASX 200 index dropped as much as 0.80 percent after lunchtime in Sydney but managed to recover some of the losses in the final hour of the session.
"The ASX finished (around) 0.50 percent lower today, snapping a three-day winning streak," CommSec finance writer Daniel O'Leary said.
"Miners and energy stocks were hit as commodities suffered overnight, while property and some banks held the market back."
Materials and energy were leading market losses, which were down 1.46 percent and 1.19 percent respectively.
In the financial space, the big banks slipped with Commonwealth Bank down (0.08 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.04 percent), Westpac Bank down (0.24 percent) and ANZ down (0.67 percent).
Mining stocks slumped with BHP down (1.64 percent), Rio Tinto down (0.95 percent), Fortescue Metals down (0.59 percent), and gold miner Newcrest down (0.98 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers plummeted with Oil Search down (2.47 percent), Santos down (0.82 percent) and Woodside Petroleum down (0.87 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets slumped with Coles down (0.83 percent), and Woolworths down (0.86 percent).
Meanwhile, telecommunications giant Telstra surged (2.24 percent), the national carrier Qantas sank (0.55 percent) and biomedical firm CSL dipped (0.31 percent).
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