The Australian sharemarket edged lower on Thursday as weakness in the Health Care and Financial sectors offset gains in mining shares.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 25.40 points or 0.3% to 8,805.0, with six of 11 sectors in finishing in negative territory.
Healthcare led the declines, with CSL sliding 2.4%, Sonic Healthcare down 1.1% ResMed falling 2.7%, and Fisher & Paykel retreating 0.8%.
Financials also fell, with Commonwealth Bank slipping 0.5%, ANZ losing 1.6%, National Australia Bank and Westpac falling 0.9% apiece.
Mining provided support after a surprise pullback in U.S. inflation data boosted expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week, underpinning demand for gold.
Bullion traded at US$3,648 per ounce, just shy of its record high earlier this week.
Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining and Newmont advanced 3.5%, 6.2%, and 1.3%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Nine Entertainment slumped 35.9% as shares traded ex-dividend.
In corporate news, Service Stream jumped 16% after securing a A$1.6 billion contract with the Australian Department of Defence to manage more than 100 sites in South Australia and the Northern Territory, including eight major bases.
PolyNovo gained 4.3% after chairman David Williams bought nearly $52,000 worth of shares.
Boss Energy plunged 12.2% after setting a December deadline for a review of its Honeymoon uranium mine in South Australia.
On the bond markets, 10-year yields eased 0.2% to 4.238%, while 2-year yields were unchanged at 3.375%.
