Day traders' after-market lounge December 5

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

Weak leads from overseas dragged shares off a 10-week high, with the market retaining most of its losses after the Reserve Bank left benchmark interest rates on hold, as expected.

The ASX 200 was down more than 1% before the mid-afternoon rates announcement and finished with a loss of 63 points or 0.89%. The heavily-weighted miners accounted for much of the weakness after overnight setbacks for gold, iron ore, lithium and base metals. Utilities and healthcare offered havens from the selling.

The market mounted a tepid comeback after the RBA left the cash rate target at 4.35%. The bank cited "significant uncertainties around the outlook" and reiterated that any additional hikes would depend on incoming data and the bank's assessment of risks.

US stocks declined overnight as profit-taking set in after five straight weeks of gains. The S&P 500 reversed 0.54%. S&P 500 futures eased an additional 0.2% this afternoon.