A sharp sell-off in consumer staples and utilities stocks dragged the Australian sharemarket lower on Thursday.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.3 per cent, or by 20.4 points, to 8160 at the closing bell, weighed down by nine out of the 11 sectors. The All Ordinaries fell 0.2 per cent.

The consumer staples sector was the worst performing, falling 1.6 per cent. That’s after Woolworths lost another 2.8 per cent to $29.96, extending its 6.1 per cent sell-off in the previous session after a profit warning.

Rival Coles slipped 0.6 per cent to $17.59 after the supermarket giant reported sales below expectations in the September quarter, rising 2.9 per cent from the year earlier to $10.55 billion.

Utilities also finished in the red, dragged lower by AGL Energy, which fell 6 per cent to $10.48. An expiry of cheap coal and gas supply contracts prompted Barrenjoey to cut its future earnings estimates for the company and downgrade the stock rating to underweight.

In commodities, gold climbed to a fresh record at $US2790.10 an ounce, boosted by safe haven demand before the US election. ASX gold stocks tracked the higher precious metal price, with Gold Road Resources jumping 4.2 per cent to $2.

Saxo head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen said the rally could end abruptly if a clear winner does not emerge next week.

“Having rallied as much as it has, gold can still run into a deep correction, potentially after November 5, should the election result not deliver the keys to the White House and Congress to one party,” he warned.

The major banks recorded a mixed performance. National Australia Bank was the best performer, adding 0.9 per cent to $38.80. Westpac rose 0.3 per cent to $32.12. Commonwealth Bank slipped 0.1 per cent to $142.75, and ANZ fell 0.2 per cent to $31.15.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, consumer discretionary stocks tilted higher, led by JB Hi-Fi, which rallied 5.3 per cent to $82.03 after posting growing sales across its businesses in the third quarter, including a large jump for the company’s New Zealand arm.

Mineral Resources soared 9.2 per cent to $39.40 after striking a $1.1 billion deal to sell its oil and gas assets to Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. The miner expects to hand down its conclusions from an investigation into the tax affairs of managing director Chris Ellison by Monday.

And Origin Energy rallied 1.4 per cent to $9.63 following an increase to its liquid natural gas revenue in the September quarter, despite a dip in overall production.