At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 edged down 0.76 point, or 0.01%, to 7,307.29. The broader All Ordinaries decreased marginal 6.11 points, or 0.08%, to 7,572.47.
Total 8 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P/ASX 200 Index. materials was the best performing sector, gaining 4.4%, followed by consumer staples (up 1.9%), consumer discretionary (up 1.3%), telecommunication services (up 1.3%), financials (up 0.7%), and real estate (up 0.6%) sectors, while healthcare was worst performing sector, down 3.1%, followed by industrials (down 0.5%) sector.
The best performing stocks in the S&P/ASX200 were Redbubble (up 8.2%), Kogan.com (up 6.6%), Endeavour Group (up 3.8%), Woolworths Group (up 2.9%), and Eagers Automotive (up 2.2%), while the worst performing stocks were Afterpay (down 7.5%), Gold Road Resources (down 7.4%), Zip CO (down 7.1%), Webjet (down 4.7%), and Nearmap (down 4.2%).
Investors refrained from making major moves ahead of the release of major economic data, including the U.S. economic data, China manufacturing and non-manufacturing data, and Bank of Japan's Tankan survey later this week for directional cues.
The White House on Saturday stepped back from a call to link it to a wider tax-and-spending bill - including priorities like climate change mitigation, child care, schools and social services - that is opposed by Republicans. The announcement fanned fears he had threatened to veto the new agreement.
Travel and tourism stocks suffered heavy losses as fresh COVID-19 cases triggered tighter restrictions in four states. New South Wales reported 30 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the first day of a two-week lockdown in Sydney and Darwin. Flight Centre Travel Group, Qantas Airways and Webjet lost 3-4 percent.
CURRENCY NEWS: The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7583 after rising last week from below $0.756.
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