The Australian sharemarket slipped on Monday, defying a positive close on Wall Street as a big sell-off in miners offset gains in technology, with investors awaiting the outcome of high-stakes talks between the US and China.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index nudged 0.1 per cent lower, or 5.7 points, to 8989.6 at the open, well down from a record high above 9100 set last week. On Friday, US markets closed higher after President Donald Trump said his proposed 100 per cent tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable. Trump is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart this week.

On the ASX, eight of the 11 sectors were in the green, led by technology and real estate. Materials slumped nearly 2 per cent, led by gold miners. The precious metal price had dropped more than 2 per cent on Friday after hitting a record high of $US4378.69 per ounce and posting its biggest weekly gain in five years, thanks to a flight to safety. The gold price was steady at $US4244 in early trade on Monday, with Newmont, Evolution Mining, and Regis skidding more than 5 per cent each.

Critical minerals also receded with Iluka off 4.3 per cent, Mineral Resources down 1.1 per cent and IGO off 1.4 per cent. Sentiment for anything related to commodities was so poor that even the big mining groups fell. BHP shed 1.6 per cent and Rio Tinto lost 0.6 per cent.

There was far more joy in financials, with all the big four banks in the green.

Stocks on the move

Auto parts group Bapcor was among the biggest losers, down 16 per cent following a profit downgrade and the disclosure of a $12 million pre-tax earnings hit due to “unsatisfactory operational practices” in its trade division.

Sigma Healthcare fell 1 per cent after a NSW court ruling that found in favour of the state regulator in a pharmacy ownership dispute with Blooms the Chemist would not have implications for its Chemist Warehouse chain.

Beach Energy jumped 4.8 per cent after reporting an 8 per cent rise in oil production.

DroneShield rallied 4.6 per cent after a more than 1000 per cent jump in revenue in the September quarter from a year ago.

Buy-now-pay-later company Zip rose 5.8 per cent after upgrading its US total transaction volume growth forecast for 2025-26.

Plumbing materials group Reece gained 4.9 per cent after completing its $365 million off-market share buyback at $13 a share.

Uranium miner Deep Yellow tumbled 16 per cent after the immediate exit of chief executive John Borshoff.