Day traders' after-market lounge July 8

Thanks afternoon crew.

End-of-day summary:

The share market continued its recent run of losing starts to the trading week as declines in iron ore and crude outweighed positive leads from the US.

The ASX 200 sagged 59 points or 0.76% to 7763. The Australian benchmark has not posted a positive close to the first session of the week since June 3, suggesting Mondays have become a "sell day" for institutional traders.

Gains this afternoon in gold miners and tech and consumer stocks were dwarfed by declines in bulk metal miners, energy producers, REITs and healthcare providers. Ore prices slumped 3.2% in China this afternoon, adding to a 2% reversal on Friday. Oil also started the new week under pressure after declining more than 1% on Friday.

Today's weakness came as stark contrast to record closes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq last week. The S&P 500 gained 0.54% and the Nasdaq added 0.9% on Friday when trade resumed after the Independence Day holiday.

While Wall Street continues to scale fresh heights in anticipation of up to two rate cuts this year, Australian stocks have fallen into a sideways trading band while the threat of more rate hikes lingers.