At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 10 points or 0.15 percent at 6,537.20, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 5.60 points or 0.083 percent at 6,737.10.
Resource shares were firmly lower, as were industrials and consumer shares, however the biggest drag was financials, down around 50 percent in early trade.
Offsetting losses was health care which posted a close to 1 percent gain in early trade, led by a 1.3 percent rally by biotech giant CSL.
The company is playing a central role in Australia's development of a COVID-19 vaccine which includes a new one billion Australian dollar (728 million U.S. dollar) deal to create a brand new manufacturing facility in Melbourne.
In the financial space, the big banks dropped with Commonwealth Bank down (0.32 percent), Westpac Bank down (0.35 percent), ANZ down (0.85 percent) and National Australia Bank down (0.88 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly lower with Rio Tinto down (0.12 percent), BHP down (0.47 percent) and goldminer Newcrest down (1.38 percent), however Fortescue Metals was up (0.59 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers were mixed with Oil Search down (2.15 percent), Santos up (0.08 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (0.28 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets sank with Coles down (0.61 percent), and Woolworths down (0.24 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra lifted (0.16 percent), the national carrier Qantas rallied (0.19 percent) and biomedical firm CSL rallied (1.07 percent).
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