Day traders' after-market lounge December 21

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The Australian share market declined after Wall Street's dream end to the year hit a speed bump overnight.

The ASX 200 dropped 34 points or 0.45% from yesterday's 10-month closing high. Tech and consumer stocks led a retreat that left only the industrial and utilities sector in the green. Aristocrat Leisure, Newmont and Coles were the worst of the heavyweight drags.

The trigger for today's retreat was Wall Street's worst session in two months. The S&P 500 slumped 1.47% as a bleak trading update from FedEx revived recession fears and handed traders a reason to take profits after almost two weeks of near-vertical gains. The Dow's loss of 1.27% was the blue-chip average's first in ten sessions.