The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just wrapped up a pretty horrible day this Wednesday. By the closing bell, the ASX 200 had recorded a significant loss of 0.74%, leaving the index at 7,547.7 points.
It could have been far worse too. Soon after open this morning, the markets were down more than 1.4% at one point.
This poor showing for ASX shares today follows an awful session up on the Wall Street markets last night.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) had a horrid Tuesday, tanking by 1.35%.
It was even worse for the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC), which sank by a hue 1.8%.
But let's grit our teeth now and return to the ASX for a look at how the different ASX sectors fared during today's difficult conditions.
Winners and losers
As one might expect, there were far more losers than winners today amongst the ASX sectors.
Leading the losers was the gold sector. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) had a terrible day, tanking 2.83%.
Tech stocks were second from the bottom, with the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) shedding 1.32%.
Then we had financial shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) had a day to forget too, losing 1.21% of its value.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) weren't spared, with the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) dropping 1.02%.
Nor were ASX mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) had 0.91% lopped off this Wednesday.
Utilities shares didn't come out unscathed either, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ)'s loss of 0.72%.
Communications stocks had a rough day too. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) went backwards by 0.49%.
Healthcare shares got an invite to the pity party as well, with the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ) getting a 0.46% downgrade.
Energy stocks were another sore spot. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) slid 0.11% lower.
Our final loser was the consumer staples space. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) slipped by 0.09% by the close of trading.
Turning now to the far less numerous winners, the best place to be today was in industrial shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) had a relatively spiffing Wednesday, jumping 0.26% higher.
The only other winner was consumer discretionary stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) was also a safe haven, inching up by 0.05%.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Taking out today's crown of best-performing share was lithium stock Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA). Sayona shares rocketed a massive 18.42% up to 4.5 cents each.
There was no news out from the company or the sector that can easily explain this, but most lithium stocks seemed to be in demand today.
Here's how the rest of today's substantial winners landed at the closing bell:
| ASX-listed company | Share price | Price change |
| Sayona Mining Ltd (ASX: SYA) | $0.045 | 18.42% |
| Downer EDI Ltd (ASX: DOW) | $4.79 | 11.14% |
| Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) | $0.205 | 10.81% |
| AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) | $1.07 | 10.31% |
| IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) | $21.92 | 8.30% |
| Chalice Mining Ltd (ASX: CHN) | $1.08 | 8.00% |
| Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) | $38.91 | 7.04% |
| Computershare Ltd (ASX: CPU) | $26.29 | 4.91% |
| Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) | $1.39 | 4.51% |
| Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC) | $4.42 | 2.55% |
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.
