The Australian sharemarket fell on Monday as a sharp sell-off in commodity prices weighed heavily on mining stocks, dragging the benchmark index lower and leaving most sectors in the red.
The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 62.30 points or 0.7% to close at 8,635.0, with nine of the 11 sectors ending the session lower.
The Materials sector was the biggest drag on the market, with copper prices falling more than 3% on Friday from record highs, while iron ore futures also declined.
Sentiment was further impacted after China said it would introduce a licensing system on the export of certain steel products from January, prompting concerns about demand.
Heavy profit-taking followed in the materials sector. BHP fell 2.9%, Rio Tinto declined 2.4% and Fortescue dropped 1%.
Fortescue separately announced it had agreed to acquire the remaining 64% of Canadian-listed Alta Copper it does not already own at C$1.40 per share.
Gold miners were also weaker despite the precious metal trading near US$4,310 an ounce, after rising more than 2% last week.
Northern Star lost 2.1%, Evolution Mining fell 3.8% and Newmont closed 0.9% lower.
Westgold Resources fell 2.8% amid the broader sell-off, despite receiving approval to demerge its non-core Reedy and Comet gold assets into a new ASX-listed vehicle, Valiant Gold, with an initial public offering planned for the March quarter.
Silver miners were hit as spot prices retreated 2.5% from record highs on Friday, with Unico Silver shedding 9.4%, Sun Silver down 4.3% and Andean Silver falling 4.9%.
Elsewhere, Financials were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank slipping 0.6%, National Australia Bank and Westpac ticking up 0.2% apiece, and ANZ adding 1.2%.
In company news, ASX Ltd plunged 5.7% after the market operator agreed to governance reforms following an ASIC report.
4D Medical rose 6.3% after receiving regulatory approval for its CT:VQ software in Canada through its partnership with Philips.
DroneShield was the strongest performer on the day, jumping 10.6% and extending a volatile run that has seen the stock gain 15% over the past five days, though it remains down 16% over the past month.
Electro Optic Systems Holdings surged 28.9% after announcing a contract to supply a high-energy laser weapon system to a South Korean customer.
On the bond markets, yields moved lower, with Australian 10-year and two-year government bond yields down 0.6% and 0.7% to 4.733% and 4.0%, respectively.
