The local share market has closed at a three-week low after its fourth straight session of losses, amid more fallout from China's debt and property crisis and diminished odds of quick US interest rate cuts this year.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday was up as much as 0.2 per cent in morning trading but drifted lower all afternoon to finish near the lows of the day, down 37.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 7,451.5.
The broader All Ordinaries lost 41.6 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7,676.8.
The afternoon reversal came as Asian markets opened lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index falling two per cent and mainland China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.1 per cent, after shadow banking conglomerate Zhongzhi Enterprise Group filed for bankruptcy liquidation late Friday.
A rethink about the potential for a half-dozen US interest rate cuts in 2024 - a narrative that was a major reason for a global stock market rally in December, with the ASX gaining 7.1 per cent - was also dragging on sentiment.
Over the weekend the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported US job growth in December picked up and the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 per cent, diminishing hopes the Federal Reserve would be forced to cut rates as soon as March to boost the economy.
"Our assessment is that the FOMC will be patient, given still-high annual inflation," wrote ANZ analysts Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes on Monday, referring to the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
The release of monthly Australian consumer price index data on Wednesday will give markets some idea about how inflation is tracking domestically, although the quarterly January 31 readout will be more influential ahead of the Reserve Bank's February 6 meeting.
Markets on Friday were pricing in just a five per cent chance of a rate hike, according to the ASX's RBA Rate Indicator.
All of the ASX's 11 sectors finished in the red on Monday, with health care and tech the biggest losers, falling 0.8 per cent. Cochlear slipped 2.3 per cent and Altium dropped 1.3 per cent.
Gains for coalminers and uranium developers nearly kept the energy sector out of the red, but not quite.
Whitehaven Coal rose 2.0 per cent to an 11-month high of $8.02, while Paladin Energy and Boss Energy had hit two-month highs as the price of yellowcake hit a 16-year high of $US91 a pound.
Paladin climbed 3.5 per cent to $1.05 while Boss added 8.5 per cent to $4.59.
The big retail banks were mixed, with CBA down 0.9 per cent to $111.98 and NAB dipping 0.2 per cent to $30.51, while Westpac added 0.1 per cent to $22.88 and ANZ advanced 0.2 per cent to $25.66.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP dropped 0.8 per cent to $48.66, Rio Tinto fell 0.6 per cent to $131.52 and Fortescue subtracted 1.6 per cent to $27.75
Core Lithium fell another 17.4 per cent to a three-year low of 19c following the company's announcement last week it was suspending mining at its Grants open pit operation near Darwin.
Among smaller miners, Red 5 added 3.6 per cent to 29c as the goldminer said a strong December quarter had positioned it to achieve the top end of 2023/24 guidance, while Silver Lake Resources gained 2.2 per cent to $1.15 after announcing quarterly sales results.
The Australian dollar was buying 67.06 US cents, from 67.03 US cents at Friday's ASX close.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Monday finished down 37.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 7,451.5.
* The broader All Ordinaries dropped 41.6 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 7,676.8.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 67.06 US cents, from 67.03 US cents at Friday's ASX close
* 96.78 Japanese yen, from 97.00 Japanese yen
* 61.29 Euro cents, from 61.30 Euro cents
* 52.77 British pence, from 52.88 pence
* 107.44 NZ cents, from 107.58 NZ cents
