The S&P/ASX200 fell 37 points on Monday, or 0.42 per cent, to 8,725.7, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 37 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 9,032.
"Of the 200 components, only 42 rose, seven were unchanged, and 151 fell," Moomoo market strategy consultant Greg Boland said.
With two trading sessions left in 2025, the top-200 is up about seven per cent for the year, compared to a more than 17 per cent rally for Wall Street's S&P500, and nearly 30 per cent charges for Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Japan's Nikkei indexes.
Ten of 11 local sectors ended the day lower, with only health care stocks offering a 0.2 per cent lift in resistance, tracking with an uptick in blood plasma giant CSL.
Both the company and the sector are down severely in 2025.
IT and energy stocks fell the hardest, down 1.1 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
The energy sector slump came with broad losses across fossil fuels and uranium producers, and despite a partial recovery in oil prices as markets weighed talks between US and Ukrainian leaders against ongoing tensions in the Middle East, following Saudi airstrikes on Yemen and Iran.
Woodside crept 0.4 per cent lower, beating the broader sector as it hit a production milestone at its Beaumont New Ammonia facility in Texas and inked an LNG sale and purchase deal with Türkiye's state-owned oil and gas company.
The heavyweight financials sector lived up to its name, dragging on the bourse with a 0.5 per cent slide, tracking with similar losses in CBA, NAB and Westpac, while ANZ bounced 0.3 per cent from a sell off in the previous session.
Raw materials stocks were also under selling pressure, as large cap miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue all traded lower as iron ore futures ran into resistance around $US106.94 a tonne.
Mixed miner South32 was the best performer of the top-200, rising a modest 2.3 per cent to $3.59, aided by silver's record breaking run, which pushed the precious and industrial metal above $US80 ($A119) an ounce for the first time.
Netwealth Group was at the other end of the table, down 6.4 per cent and at eight-month lows, after agreeing earlier in December to refund $100 million to victims of the failed First Guardian superannuation fund who were offered it through Netwealth's platform.
ASX-listed gold miners were broadly lower, as bullion prices eased from fresh record highs above $US4,550 ($6,774) an ounce, fading to around $US5,514.
Evolution bucked the trend, snatching a 0.5 per cent advance to $13 per share.
The Australian dollar is buying 67.17 US cents, trading at 14-month highs on Santa rally tailwinds, a weaker US dollar and strong commodity prices.
ON THE ASX:
* The S&P/ASX200 rose 37 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 8,725.7
* The broader All Ordinaries gained 37 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 9,032
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar trades for:
* 67.17 US cents, from 67.04 US cents at 5pm AEDT last Wednesday on Christmas Eve
* 104.97 Japanese yen, from 104.52 Japanese yen
* 57.12 euro cents, from 56.87 euro cents
* 49.78 British pence, from 49.60 British pence
* 115.41 NZ cents, from 114.78 NZ cents
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