The Australian sharemarket finished lower on Monday, with losses across the Healthcare and Information Technology sectors dragging on the broader index after a major technical outage disrupted the morning session.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 48.9 points or 0.6% to close at 8,565.2, with eight of 11 sectors ending in negative territory.
Trading was hampered by a three-hour ASX outage that prevented the release of market-sensitive announcements and forced around 80 listed companies into trading halts.
Healthcare was the weakest sector, with CSL and Sigma shedding 1.4% apiece.
Pro Medicus lost 1.6% despite securing a new $25 million, seven-year contract with U.S. health network BayCare, expanding its presence across Tampa Bay and central Florida.
ResMed dipped 4.6%, Cochlear lost 1.4%, and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare retreated 1.5%.
Technology companies lagged, with Xero down 0.3%, WiseTech Global falling 2.6% and TechnologyOne trading 2.1% lower.
Consumer staples also weighed. Treasury Wine dipped 0.7% after warning of a significant non-cash impairment on its U.S. business, with $687.4 million in goodwill set to be written off.
Metcash tanked 9.2% after reporting a 0.3% rise in statutory profit to $142.2 million, falling short of expectations.
Woolworths eased 0.2%, Coles fell 0.5% and Elders ended 1.1% lower.
The financials sector was a notable drag. AUB Group tumbled 17.8% after terminating takeover talks with EQT and CVC.
The major banks also underperformed, with Commonwealth Bank down and National Australia Bank down 0.6% apiece, Westpac falling 0.9% and ANZ losing 1.3%.
ASX Ltd itself fell 2.8% as it worked to restore market communications following the outage.
Energy stocks provided a bright spot, supported by higher crude oil prices after OPEC+ confirmed it would continue with a planned pause in production increases.
Woodside Energy gained 0.9%, and Santos lifted 0.3%.
In company news, APA Group slipped 0.4% after signing a joint development agreement with CS Energy to advance the proposed 400-megawatt Brigalow Peaking Power Plant in Queensland - a gas-fired project aimed at firming renewable energy from 2028.
On the bond markets, yields rose, with the 10-year up 0.6% at 4.56% and the 2-year 0.4% higher at 3.833%.
