At the market close the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 33.80 points or 0.50 percent at 6,666.50, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 35.50 points or 0.51 percent at 6,926.60.
All sectors were firmly lower in early trade with particularly steep losses for information technology as financial tech giant Afterpay largely reversed the previous day's surge.
Utilities and real estate were also firmly lower, both falling close to 2 percent, while most other sectors saw more modest losses.
In the financial space, the big banks sank with Commonwealth Bank down (0.63 percent), ANZ down (0.48 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.43 percent) and Westpac Bank down (0.31 percent).
Mining stocks were mostly lower with Rio Tinto down (0.19 percent), Fortescue Metals down (0.50 percent) and goldminer Newcrest down (1.69 percent), however BHP was up (0.07 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers dropped with Oil Search down (0.42 percent), Santos down (0.47 percent) and Woodside Petroleum down (0.65 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets sank with Coles down (0.27 percent), and Woolworths down (0.60 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra was unchanged (0 percent), the national carrier Qantas lifted (0.20 percent) and biomedical firm CSL edged lower (0.02 percent).
Latest comments