News: CSL Australian shares skid off record highs to end lower; GDP data awaited

	  Benchmark touched fresh all-time high earlier in day 

	  Healthcare, miners top drags 

	  GDP data due on Wednesday 

	  Genex Power soars on takeover offer of A$0.255 per share 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares ended lower on Monday, after touching a fresh all-time high earlier in the day, weighed down by heavyweight mining and healthcare stocks, while investors await key domestic economic growth data for clues on the country's monetary policy stance.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) closed 0.1% lower at 7,735.80 points. The benchmark touched a fresh peak of 7,769.10 points, after logging record highs in the previous two sessions.

Mining stocks .AXMM were the top drags on the benchmark, declining 0.8%, as iron ore prices remained under pressure on slow near-term demand recovery and growing concerns on prospects for the key steel-making ingredient in China.

Top miners Rio Tinto (RIO) , BHP Group (BHP) , and Fortescue (FMG) fell between 1.2% to 3.2%, with Fortescue closing at its lowest level since early December.

Healthcare stocks .AXHJ fell 0.8%, pulled down by biotechnology giant CSL (CSL) , which lost 1% to end at its lowest closing level since mid-December, while Sonic Healthcare (SHL) dropped 2%.

Meanwhile, investors await fourth-quarter domestic economic growth data, due on Wednesday, just ahead of the central bank's policy meeting. Markets will assess the data for any changes to their monetary easing expectations.

"Predictions from the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) indicate it (GDP data) is likely to remain subdued, reflecting continuing concerns around cost of living and interest rates," said Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at brokerage firm eToro.

Gilbert added that retail sales in the final quarter of 2023 were the "early signs that consumers were feeling the impact of the RBA's tightening cycle", which could be a drag on economic growth alongside weaker residential construction.

Investor focus will also turn to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before lawmakers on Wednesday and Thursday.

Back in Sydney, renewable energy firm Genex Power (GNX) ended 32.4% higher after it received a A$380.9 million ($248.2 million) takeover offer from Japan's Electric Power Development 9513.T .

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) dropped 0.2% to 11,724.21 points.

($1 = 1.5344 Australian dollars)