The Australian sharemarket fell from a record high on Thursday after a weak lead from Wall Street and a sell-off in mining companies.

The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 27 points, 0.3 per cent, to 8565.1 points after the benchmark gauge reset its all-time high in the previous session.

Seven out of 11 sectors climbed, but banks fell, dragging on the bourse. The All Ordinaries also fell 0.3 per cent.

Investor sentiment was dented by a volatile session on Wall Street, where stocks were bolstered earlier in the day by the latest US-China trade talks and a muted US consumer price inflation report, before finishing lower. Apple dropped 2 per cent.

Profit-taking

“The market was softer, with a reversal from some companies that have performed quite well in the last week or so,” Ten Cap portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu said, referring to lithium miners and fast-food chain Dominos. The latter dropped 4.9 per cent to $20.30 on Thursday.

The ASX 200’s iron ore giants were the biggest detractors as the shares tracked a weaker iron ore price. BHP dropped by 1.8 per cent to $38.34 while Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals fell 1.7 per cent to $107.58, and 3.4 per cent to $15.66, respectively.

Mineral Resources led a decline in the lithium stocks, falling 7.8 per cent to $23.70. Liontown Resources dropped 3.5 per cent to 69¢.

One bright spot was the gold miners, with investors piling into the precious metal amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran overnight. US President Donald Trump said he was growing less confident Tehran would agree to stop enriching uranium, while Iranian Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said that if Iran was subjected to strikes, it would retaliate by hitting US bases in the region.

Among the ASX-listed gold miners, Northern Star Resources gained 1.2 per cent to close at $21.43, while Newmont jumped 3 per cent to $83.21.

Elsewhere, financial stocks dragged on the ASX 200, with Commonwealth Bank dipping 0.5 per cent to $180.53. Macquarie Group fell 1.6 per cent to $213.63.

Stocks in focus

In corporate news, Cettire was among the worst performers, tanking 31.2 per cent to 32¢ after chief executive Dean Mintz warned of weaker demand in the US.

Monash IVF rose 9.1 per cent to 66¢ after announcing chief executive Michael Knaap had resigned after the company apologised for its second incident related to an embryo transfer in two months.

Cochlear shares rose 0.7 per cent to $272.31 despite the hearing implant manufacturer downgrading its earnings guidance and reporting slower-than-expected sales growth this year.

Myer shares fell 0.7 per cent to 69¢ after the department store reported long-serving director Jacquie Naylor would retire from its board after six years at the end of June.

Building group Johns Lyng dropped back 2 per cent to $2.93 after rocketing 17.7 per cent on Wednesday, having confirmed reports in The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk column of a non-binding indicative offer proposal from Pacific Equity Partners.