Australian shares have retreated after a strong day of trading as investors largely shrugged off concerns about COVID-19 pain in Sydney.
The benchmark ASX 200 climbed above last week's record-high close in early trading, and was down 0.1 per cent to 7,394.3.
The broader All Ordinaries fell 0.4 per cent to 7,671.
The ASX was boosted by the materials sector, with Lynas Rare Earths up 10.5 per cent after reporting its quarterly sales result grew 40 per cent.
Lynas was joined in the top-movers list by Alumina (+5.4pc), Redbubble (+5.4pc), Oz Minerals (+4.5pc) and Champion Iron (+3.5pc).
BHP shares hit an all-time high of $54, while Wesfarmers hit a record high of $62.64.
Crown Resorts dropped 5.1 per cent after the West Australian royal commission into the company's Perth casino was granted an extension until next year.
Meanwhile, stocks dragging on the market included Silverlake Resources (-7.7pc), A2 Milk (-5.3pc), and Nuix (-4.8pc).
The Australian dollar was down a quarter of a per cent at 73.48 US cents.
CBA senior economist Kim Mundy said the Australian dollar was likely to remain soft while the COVID-19 situation in Australia continued to worsen.
Around the region, Japan's Nikkei gained 1.6 per cent, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.1 per cent.
Bitcoin jumps
Cryptocurrencies jumped on Monday, sending bitcoin as much as 12.5 per cent higher to its strongest since mid-June.
Bitcoin was last up 7.3 per cent at $US37,983 and rival cryptocurrency ether rose 4.5 per cent to stand at a three-week high of $US2,290.
Strong gains on Wall Street
On Wall Street, all three US indexes hit record highs on Friday.
Dow Jones was up 0.7 per cent to 35,061, the S&P 500 gained 1 per cent to 4,411while the tech-heavy Nasdaq also lifted 1 per cent to 14,836.
Iron ore prices was up 0.2 per cent at $US201.9 a tonne.
On oil markets, US oil was up around 0.2 per cent $US72.02 a barrel, Brent Crude oil was also up and fetching $US74.10 a barrel.
The spot gold price was steady and worth $US1,805 an ounce at 4:27pm AEST.
