At 10:30 (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 39.10 points or 0.59 percent at 6,642.80, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 32.70 points or 0.47 percent at 6,923.00.
Almost three quarters of Australia's largest 200 companies were trending lower in early trade on Wednesday as the nation continued to struggle with COVID-19 cases in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
The exception was energy stocks which surged following unexpected news of voluntary cuts to oil output by Saudi Arabia, in order to steady the commodity price as demand potentially decreases.
Materials also performed better than most, posting only a modest drop, thanks to large iron ore extractors Fortescue and BHP which both climbed in early trade.
In the financial space, the big banks sank with Commonwealth Bank down (0.59 percent), ANZ down (0.70 percent), National Australia Bank down (0.88 percent) and Westpac Bank down (0.62 percent).
Mining stocks were mixed with Rio Tinto down (1.11 percent), Fortescue Metals up (0.60 percent), BHP up (0.29 percent) and goldminer Newcrest down (1.72 percent).
The country's oil and gas producers surged with Oil Search up (4.62 percent), Santos up (4.10 percent) and Woodside Petroleum up (2.98 percent).
Australia's largest supermarkets sank with Coles down (1.51 percent), and Woolworths down (1.27 percent).
Meanwhile telecommunications giant Telstra edged lower (0.16 percent), the national carrier Qantas lifted (0.62 percent) and biomedical firm CSL dropped (1.67 percent).
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