Things just kept going from bad to worse for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and ASX shares this Wednesday. After a steep drop at market open, the ASX 200 trended lower all day. By market close, the index finished at 7,354.6 points, a nasty fall of 1.29%.
This move comes after a far tamer night on the US markets on Wall Street last night
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) gave investors a positive performance, rising by 0.2%. The same can't be said of the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) though, which dropped by 0.43%.
Alright, let's grit our teeth and wade into the carnage of the markets today with a look at the different ASX sectors.
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Winners and losers
The scale of today's losses meant that not one ASX sector finished up in the green this Wednesday. Ouch.
But some fared far worse than others.
The worst-performing sector this session was ASX utilities shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) tanked by a depressing 2.18%.
That was closely followed by real estate investment trusts (REITs). The S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) ended up recording a fall of 1.95%.
Gold shares and financials stocks were also singled out for severe punishment. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) dropped 1.87%, while the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) wasn't far off that with its loss of 1.77%.
ASX mining shares fared a little better, exemplified by the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ)'s 1.18% decline.
Both consumer staples and discretionary shares fell by less than 1%. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) ended up closing 0.74% lower, while the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) recorded a 0.81% fall.
The best place to be today was in ASX tech shares. But even tech didn't escape the carnage, with the S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) retreating by 0.45%.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Despite no sector recording a gain today, we still had 10 ASX 200 shares rising in value (if only just). Chief amongst those was ASX healthcare share Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME).
The Pro Medicus share price added a healthy 2.98% today to finish up at $71.08. That was in addition to the company recording a new 52-week high of $71.60 a share as well, perhaps as a result of some love from ASX brokers.
Here are the other winning shares from today's session:
| ASX-listed company | Share price | Price change |
| Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) | $71.08 | 2.98% |
| Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG) | $23.12 | 1.58% |
| Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC) | $4.22 | 1.44% |
| Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX: PDN) | $0.78 | 1.3% |
| ResMed Inc (ASX: RMD) | $33.99 | 1.01% |
| Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) | $3.06 | 0.99% |
| News Corporation (ASX: NWS) | $30.63 | 0.92% |
| Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX: CCP) | $20.80 | 0.82% |
| Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) | $26.32 | 0.53% |
| South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) | $3.92 | 0.51% |
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.
