The sharemarket has turned lower as investors took profits in index heavyweight Commonwealth Bank that offset a rally in the iron ore majors.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 1.9 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 8595.8 on Thursday after resetting its record in the previous session. Eight out of the 11 sectors were trading in the red, led by banking.

Gold eased after a three-day gain, while oil fell after its biggest gain in almost two weeks. US President Donald Trump also said he had struck a trade deal with Vietnam, which would be just the third announced following agreements with the UK and China, before a July 9 deadline to reach accords.

On the ASX, housing developer GemLife closed on debut at $4.33, which was 4.1 per cent higher than its IPO price of $4.16.

“We invested and took the IPO. Day one it’s traded pretty well,” said Wilson Asset Management portfolio manager Shaun Weick.

“We rate management very highly – they’re clearly very good operators, and we think domestically they’re exposed to the right markets and sectors.”

Profit-taking sent the Australian bourse lower with declines in the big four banks led by a 2.2 per cent drop to $179.69 for Commonwealth Bank, while National Australia Bank lost 1.1 per cent to $38.91, and Westpac came off 0.7 per cent to $33.48.

Retailers were also sold off after rallying earlier in the week on hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia next week. JB Hi-Fi lost 3 per cent to $109.32, Wesfarmers 2 per cent to $83.69, and Harvey Norman 1.5 per cent to $5.38.

The broader losses were offset by a jump in the iron ore price after Beijing vowed to crack down on disorderly low-price competition and phase out some industrial capacity. That buoyed the mining giants, with index heavyweight BHP jumping 5.6 per cent to $39.27. Rio Tinto and Fortescue both jumped 1.8 per cent to $110.25 and $16.26, respectively.

“The flow of money out of the banks continues to shift into the big miners,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore.

“The rotation was supported by a 2.5 per cent rise in the iron ore price [on Wednesday night] to $95.55, following supportive comments from Chinese authorities earlier in the week about ‘disorderly low-price competition’ across various industries, including steel.”

Lithium miners also jumped, with Mineral Resources up 7.8 per cent to $24.44, Pilbara up 11.3 per cent to $1.53, and Liontown up 5 per cent to 74¢.