At midday AEDT on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 21.8 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 8,399.1, while the broader All Ordinaries had fallen 23 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 8,665.8.
Five of the ASX's 11 sectors were lower at midday and six were higher. The energy sector was the biggest mover, dropping 1.5 per cent as Woodside and Santos both fell 1.8 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP had dropped 0.6 per cent, Fortescue had diminished 1.3 per cent and Rio Tinto had dipped 0.5 per cent.
All of the big four banks were lower, with ANZ dropping 2.9 per cent after the bank named an outsider as its next chief executive.
Former HSBC executive Nuno Matos will start in the role when Shayne Elliott retires in July.
Westpac was down 0.6 per cent, NAB had dropped 0.8 per cent and CBA had crept 0.1 per cent lower.
Platinum Asset Management had fallen 14.8 per cent to an all-time low of 89 cents and Regal Partners shares were down 4.5 per cent to a three-week low of $3.82 after Regal decided not to pursue its takeover offer for Platinum following a period of due diligence.
Regal didn't say why, but E&P analyst Olivier Coulon said he suspected it had to do with the continued outflows of Platinum's funds under management since Regal's initial approach in September.
The Australian dollar meanwhile was buying 63.96 US cents, from 64.29 US cents at Friday's ASX close and its first time below 64 US cents since November 2023.
NAB senior economist Taylor Nugent said that the Aussie was the worst-performing G10 currency last week, dropping 1.9 per cent, not helped by the softer-than-expected gross domestic product figures released on Wednesday.
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