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The ASX slipped into the red in afternoon trade before closing  the first trading session of the week down 0.16%, weighed down by a sharp sell-off in industrials stocks.

 The materials sector rallied 3.4% today amid a surge for iron ore miners on the back of the price of iron ore surging 4.47% to US$93.50 per tonne overnight. Champion Iron (ASX:CIA) rose almost 13% and was the winning stock of today, while Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) added just over 10%, and BHP Group (ASX:BHP) lifted 4.56%. The other winning stocks to start the week were Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), which jumped 11.7% and Sims (ASX:SGM) which rose 6.9%. 

 The worst performing stocks today were led by Elders (ASX:ELD) plunging more than 23% after the Australian agribusiness released its full year results including operating cash flow down 28.5% to $113.7 million, a 35% jump in sales revenue to $3.445 billion and a 42% increase in underlying profit before tax of $223.5m. The company also increased its dividend by 33% on FY21 to 56cps. Shares in the company tanked today though after Elders CEO Mark Allison announced he would be retiring, bringing to an end his role as CEO after nearly 10-years, with his role as CEO ending on or before November 14, 2023. IPH (ASX:IPH) also dropped 6.56% today and Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) ended the session down 6.45%. Medibank’s (ASX:MPL) woes continued today with the health insurance provider revealing another 500 Medibank customers have had their medical records published to the dark web. Shares in Medibank fell 1.06% today.

 The most traded stocks by Bell Direct clients today were Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS).

 There was no local economic data released today however investors will be awaiting the release of the RBA’s meeting minutes for November out tomorrow.

 In commodities, crude oil has retreated to trade just 0.15% higher at US$89.09 per barrel, gold is down 0.54% at US$1761 per ounce and iron ore is up 4.47% at US$93.50 per tonne.

 The Aussie dollar has slightly weakened to buy 66.75 US cents, 56.71 British Pence, 93.17 Japanese Yen and NZ$1.10.