Australian shares closed slightly lower on Monday, as declines in utilities and heavyweight mining stocks offset strength in healthcare and technology.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 13.4 points, or 0.2%, at 8,831.0, with five of the market's 11 sectors finishing in negative territory.
Utilities led declines during the session, as Origin Energy and Genesis Energy dipped 1.4% apiece, and Meridian Energy declined 2.1%.
The Materials sector finished in the red. Among the major miners, BHP dipped 0.8%, and Rio Tinto ended flat, while Fortescue gained 0.9% despite confirming it had been served with a class action in the Federal Court relating to alleged workplace misconduct, including claims of sexual harassment and discrimination between 1 February 2006 and 5 December 2025.
The legal action follows allegations from several current and former female employees of widespread sexual harassment and assault at the company's remote fly-in, fly-out operations.
Gold producers weakened, with Northern Star Resources down 1.8%, Evolution Mining falling 1.6%, and Newmont closing 0.8% lower.
Greatland Resources rose 0.2% after reporting production of 328,986 ounces of gold and 14,594 tonnes of copper during the 2026 financial year. Gold output finished 6% above the company's production guidance.
Genesis Minerals dropped 3.6% after launching an A$5.6 billion takeover bid for Vault Minerals, improving on an existing proposal from Regis Resources.
Regis Resources added 1.1% after reporting June quarter gold production of 101,500 ounces, up 12% from the previous quarter.
Full-year production reached 379,000 ounces, placing the miner at the top end of its previously guided FY26 production range of 350,000 to 380,000 ounces.
Consumer Staples weighed on the broader market, with Woolworths down 1%, Coles easing 0.2%, Treasury Wine Estates down 2% and Endeavour Group finishing 1.5% lower.
The Financial sector came under pressure, with Commonwealth Bank down 0.2%, National Australia Bank adding 0.2%, Westpac declining 1.1% and ANZ ending the session 0.7% lower.
Healthcare was the strongest-performing sector, with CSL up 2%, Sonic Healthcare adding 1.4%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare lifting 0.8%, and Cochlear up 2.3%.
Information technology stocks also advanced, with Xero up 1.8% and WiseTech Global adding 7.3%, while TechnologyOne slipped 0.6%.
Among individual companies, Helia fell 2.1% despite announcing a new four-year exclusive lenders' mortgage insurance (LMI) agreement with ING Australia, extending a partnership that contributed about 20% of the insurer's FY25 gross written premium (GWP).
Infratil added 1.4% after its joint venture, Canberra Data Centres, reported a 23.6% increase in valuation to a midpoint of $18.5 billion during the June quarter, driven by growth in contracted data centre capacity.
On the bond markets, Australian 10-year government bond yields fell 0.5% to 4.792%, while two-year yields declined 0.9% to 4.447%.
