At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 46.47 points, or 0.61%, to 7,682.46. The broader All Ordinaries dropped 48.06 points, or 0.61%, to 7,849.62. The market decline followed a 1.2% lift last week and eight record highs hit over the past 11 sessions.
Total 6 of 11 sectors ended higher despite the decline in the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Consumer Staples was the best performing sector, gaining +1.14%, while energy was the worst performing sector, loosing 3.36%.
Chinese economic data showed a surprisingly sharp slowdown in retail sales, industrial production and urban investment, numbers that are expected to soften further amid tightening pandemic restrictions in the country.
Over the past day, a record 478 new cases were identified in NSW, the ACT extended its lockdown after identifying 19 cases, Melbourne's lockdown will be extended by two weeks with a curfew imposed from 9pm to 5pm every night while the Northern Territory is also entering lockdown.
The A2 Milk Company rallied more than 12% over reports of possible takeover from Swiss food company Nestle.
JB Hi-Fi (JBH) rose by 2.5% after handing down a 67.4% lift in full-year earnings to $506.1m and 12.6% gain in sales to $8.92bn. JBH's earnings received a boost during the pandemic over the past year thanks to the working (and entertaining) from home trend. However, JBH warned that sales have fallen 14.9% so far this financial year due to lockdowns.
Beach Energy declined by more than 9% after the oil producer reported a dip in its revenue as well as profit for the financial year 2021.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank crashed more than 9% post earnings report. Cash profit rose by 5.5% to $457.2m, while it declared its first final dividend since 2019. However, the 26.5c dividend will be its smallest payment per share since 2009.
Sydney Airport closed 0.7% lower at $7.70 after rejecting a sweetened takeover bid from a consortium of major superannuation investors. SYD has rejected the offer, which is 20c above the initial offer made on 5 July. SYD maintains that this 'continues to undervalue' the airport and that it isn't in the best interest of shareholders.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7338 as compared with an earlier high of $0.7373
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