It's been a horror end to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Friday. Sellers have stepped on the gas, sending the ASX 200 down by a depressing 1.69% to finish the day and week at 7,042.3 points.
It was always going to be a tough day for the ASX 200, thanks to the equally sad session we saw on Wall Street overnight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) tanked by 1.07%. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) stood against the sellers a little more effectively but was still nursing an 0.82% loss by the end of last night's trading.
So let's now grit our teeth and see which ASX sectors were driving the selling pressure on the ASX boards this Friday.
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Winners and losers
Even on a down day, it's quite rare to see not one ASX sector in the green. But that was the situation confronting investors this session.
In fact, only one sector was spared a loss of less than 1% today.
That honour went to ASX utilities shares, with the S&P/ASX Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) losing 0.72% today. Yes, that was our top-performing sector of the day.
The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ), S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ), and S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) were the next best performers of today's session, all losing around 1.2% of their value.
As you might imagine from these 'best performers', we had some real pain with other sectors on the ASX this Friday.
The worst place to be today was in ASX gold shares. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) tanked by a nasty 3.11%.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) were another sore spot. The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) cratered by a torrid 2.66%.
Another member of the '2% losers' club was consumer discretionary shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) lost 2.4% today. That was closely followed by ASX tech shares, with the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) torching 2.19% of its value.
ASX mining shares and financials shares weren't spared either. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) lost 1.45%, while the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) was down 1.85%.
Ok, enough with the pain. But no doubt, investors will be hoping that next week brings some relief after this depressing end to the trading week. Let's now see which ASX 200 shares were able to shake off the significant selling pressures we saw today.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Despite the carnage on display above, the ASX 200 still managed to put out seven out of ten gainers this Friday.
Our top performer in this session was ASX gold miner Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL). Regis shares pulled a 1.57% gain out of their hat to finish the day at $1.95 a share. Investors were buying this gold stock after the company reported record annual gold production of 458,354 ounces over FY2023.
Here are today's other lucky shares:
| ASX-listed company | Share price | Price change |
| Regis Resources Ltd (ASX: RRL) | $1.945 | 1.57% |
| Elders Ltd (ASX: ELD) | $7.01 | 0.86% |
| NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX: NWH) | $2.51 | 0.8% |
| Amcor plc (ASX: AMC) | $14.76 | 0.68% |
| Coronado Global Resources Inc (ASX: CRN) | $1.51 | 0.67% |
| EVT Ltd (ASX: EVT) | $11.53 | 0.44% |
| Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) | $1.39 | 0.36% |
| Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG) | $8.43 | 0% |
| Costa Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: CGC) | $3.28 | 0% |
| Lifestyle Communities Ltd (ASX: LIC) | $15.64 | (0.06%) |
Our top 10 shares countdown is a recurring end-of-day summary to let you know which companies were making big moves on the day. Check in at Fool.com.au after the weekday market closes to see which stocks make the countdown.
