At the market close the benchmark ASX 200 Index was down 61.10 points or 0.90 percent at 6,738.4, while the broader All Ordinaries Index was down 66.60 points or 0.95 percent at 6,969.8.
"The ASX 200 finished 0.9 percent down to 6,738.4. Local shares sold off before noon after a strong start, up by as much as 0.54 percent on the open. The move into negative territory followed a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.," CommSec finance writer Daniel O'Leary said.
"Materials, utilities and energy lead the declines down 1.88 percent, 1.77 percent and 1.56 percent respectively. Telecom was the only sector to record gains, up 0.56 percent."
In the financial space, the big banks were mixed with Commonwealth Bank down (0.20 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.84 percent), Westpac Bank up (0.08 percent) and ANZ up (0.39 percent).
Mining stocks sank with BHP down (2.07 percent), Rio Tinto down (2.37 percent), Fortescue Metals down (2.33 percent), and goldminer Newcrest down (1.28 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers slumped with Oil Search down (1.67 percent), Santos down (1.11 percent) and Woodside Petroleum down (1.43 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets fell with Coles down (1.56 percent), and Woolworths down (0.47 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra soared (1.18 percent), the national carrier Qantas slumped (1.38 percent) and biomedical firm CSL sank (1.03 percent).
Latest comments