At noon on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 60.2 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 7053.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 65.1 points, or 0.88 per cent, to 7293.6.
The ASX200 has been up for the past five weeks and four out of the past five sessions, and the morning's losses, while hardly extraordinary, put it on track for its worst day since July 11.
Every sector was lower except for for telecommunications, which were flat.
Consumer discretionary and tech shares were the worst performing sectors, with both down 1.6 per cent.
On Wall Street, US futures were pointing to losses ahead of comments by Fed chairman Jerome Powell at the central bank's Jackson Hole economic symposium on Thursday morning, Australia time.
All the big retail banks were lower, with Westpac falling by 1.5 per cent and the others down from 0.7 to 0.8 per cent. Macquarie was down 1.8 per cent.
In the heavyweight mining sector, BHP was up 0.1 per cent, Fortescue had gained 0.4 per cent but Rio Tinto was down 0.7 per cent.
Adbri was the biggest loser among large companies on Monday morning, tumbling 17.7 per cent to a two-year low of $2.19 after the concrete and lime manufacturer delivered a first-half profit of $48.1 million, well under consensus expectations of $61 million.
The company formerly known as Adelaide Brighton also said the current "uncertain economic and operating environment makes it difficult to provide quantitative guidance at this time".
Star Entertainment was down 0.7 per cent to $2.89 after the casino operator posted a full year loss of $198.6 million as COVID-related closures during the year and a writedown against its flagship Sydney casino weighed.
Nearmap was up 5.3 per cent to $2.07 after the Sydney-based aerial mapping company agreed to a $2.10-per-share, $1 billion takeover offer from US private equity giant Thoma Bravo.
NIB was up 5.9 per cent to $7.70 after the health insurer announced its full-year underlying operating profit was up 14.8 per cent to $235.3 million.
Managing director Mark Fitzgibbon said the final quarter of 2021/22 was the company's best in seven years as it pushes hard on a strategy to transform from "payer to partner" in promoting members' good health.
Ampol was up 1.3 per cent to $34.58 after the petrol station operator posted a profit surge and more than doubled its interim dividend after a first-half of record fuel prices amid a global energy crisis.
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