The local bourse has closed lower, pulling back after a roughly two-week Santa rally left shares at their best collective level since February.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Thursday finished down 33.8 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 7,504.1, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 36.2 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 7,727.8.
It was just the market's second losing day out of the past 10 sessions, and came after a steeper overnight drop on Wall Street, where the S&P500 fell 1.5 per cent in a rally-ending sell-off blamed on zero-day options.
Nine of the ASX's 11 sectors finished lower, while industrials and utilities each gained 0.4 per cent.
Tech was the biggest loser, falling 1.4 per cent as Xero dropped 1.9 per cent and Technology One fell 1.8 per cent.
The heavyweight mining sector closed down 0.5 per cent, with BHP dipping 0.1 per cent to $49.74 while Fortescue added 0.5 per cent to $28.03 and Rio Tinto was flat at $134.40.
Liontown Resources was the biggest loser in the ASX200, dropping 8.3 per cent to $1.54 after a private royalty holder filed legal proceedings asking for a greater share of upcoming royalties from Liontown's Kathleen Valley Lithium Project in Western Australia.
Liontown said it would respond, but doesn't believe the claim by Drem Pty would materially impact earnings nor change first production from the mine, set to open in mid-2024.
Fellow lithium miner Allkem dropped 5.6 per cent to $9.865 in its final day of trading as its merger with US-based Livent became legally effective
Allkem shares will be replaced in the ASX200 on Friday with shares in the new company, Arcadium Lithium.
The big four banks were mostly lower, with CBA down 0.4 per cent to $110.56, Westpac dipping 0.1 per cent to $22.85 and NAB slipping 0.2 per cent to $30.48.
ANZ was the outlier, edging 0.1 per cent higher at $25.82 as the bank held its annual general meeting in Brisbane.
"We've started the new financial year well," chief executive Shayne Elliott told shareholders. Revenue has been in line with the second half of 2022/23, and the bank has been executing on productivity initiatives to partially offset the headwinds of inflationary pressures.
The consumer discretionary sector fell 1.2 per cent, with JB Hi-Fi down 0.8 per cent and Peter Alexander owner Premier Investments dropping 0.9 per cent, as ANZ announced that retail spending observed through its merchant payment systems had been soft this month.
"Our data goes to 17 December, and, while the week to Christmas day is a key week for trading, the data so far suggest there won’t be a last‑minute boom in spending," wrote senior economist Adelaide Timbrell.
The Australian dollar was buying 67.51 US cents, from 67.66 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 33.8 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 7,504.1.
* The broader All Ordinaries dropped 36.2 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 7,727.8.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 67.51 US cents, from 67.66 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close
* 96.48 Japanese yen, from 97.18 Japanese yen
* 61.64 Euro cents, from 61.72 Euro cents
* 53.38 British pence, from 53.19 pence
* 108.01 NZ cents, from 107.78 NZ cents
