It ended up being a horrid hump day for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Wednesday. After recording a positive day yesterday, the sellers returned in force this session.
By the end of trading, the ASX 200 had banked a significant loss of 1.5%, falling from 7,305 points to finish up at 7,195.2
This poor showing from the ASX share market is no surprise, considering the night we saw on the United States markets last night.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) had a clanger for its Tuesday session, falling a nasty 1.02%. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) wasn't of any comfort, dropping by an even worse 1.14%.
But let's now grit our teeth and take a look at today's damage with an analysis of the various ASX sectors.
Winners and losers
We saw all ASX sectors record significant losses this Wednesday, with one notable exception. More on that later, though.
Leading today's falls was the ASX tech sector. It was a dire day for tech shares, no way around it, with the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) tanking by a horrible 2.93%.
Miners were also a major drag on the markets, with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) cratering 2.63%.
Financials weren't far behind either. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) lost a nasty 1.71% today.
Industrials and gold shares weren't in the mood to give investors any respite. The S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) lost 1.04% this session, while the All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) fell 1.18%.
Energy shares joined the queue on the cliff, with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) retreating 0.88%.
As were both consumer staples and discretionary stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) and S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) slid by 0.6% and 0.85%, respectively.
In fact, the only sector to give investors a break today was real estate investment trusts (REITs). The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) was something of a safe haven, rising by a slight (but nonetheless welcome) 0.09%.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Although today's session was a depressing one, we still had at least ten ASX 200 shares record a decent gain. Chief amongst those was ASX automotive company Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP). The Bapcor share price closed at $6.77, a pleasing rise of 5.45%.
Investors seemed mightly impressed with the full-year earnings that Bapcor reported this morning.
Here are the other top ASX stocks this Wednesday:
| ASX-listed company | Share price | Price change |
| Bapcor Ltd (ASX: BAP) | $6.77 | 5.45% |
| Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR) | $2.40 | 5.26% |
| Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) | $13.34 | 4.14% |
| Vicinity Centres (ASX: VCX) | $1.895 | 2.43% |
| NRW Holdings Ltd (ASX: NWH) | $2.74 | 2.24% |
| Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP) | $4.13 | 2.23% |
| Polynovo Ltd (ASX: PNV) | $1.695 | 1.80% |
| Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) | $2.76 | 1.47% |
| Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) | $3.67 | 1.38% |
| Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX: BEN) | $9.33 | 1.30% |
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.
