At midday AEST on Monday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34.1 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 7,733.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 37.2 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 7,976.6.
In France, the far-right National Rally party has taken an early lead as votes are counted in the first of two rounds for the country's parliamentary elections, in a huge blow to President Emmanuel Macron.
Voters in the United Kingdom head to the polls on Thursday with opinion polls predicting a landslide defeat for the Tories and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
In the United States, President Joe Biden was dismissing calls for him to step aside after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Eight of the ASX's 11 sectors were lower at midday, with energy, mining and property higher.
Tech was the biggest loser, dropping 1.8 per cent, as Wisetech Global fell 4.1 per cent to a one-week low of $96.23.
In the heavyweight mining sector, goldminers and iron ore giants were headed in opposite directions.
BHP and Rio Tinto had both gained one per cent, with South32 up 0.8 per cent, while Newmont was down 1.0 per cent, Evolution had dropped 2.3 per cent and Northern Star had slid 1.1 per cent as the precious metal changed hands at $US2,325 an ounce.
Coalminers were doing well, with coking coal producers Coronado gaining 9.7 per cent, Stanmore adding 5.7 per cent and Whitehaven rising 5.9 per cent, while thermal coal producers Yancoal and New Hope had both added 3.8 per cent.
Most of the big retail banks were lower, with CBA down 1.1 per cent, Westpac falling 0.6 per cent and NAB down 0.4 per cent. ANZ was the outlier, edging 0.1 per cent higher, after being the only one of the quartet to lose ground on Friday.
In the real estate sector, Lendlease had gained 3.4 per cent to $5.59 after the developer said it had sold its US military housing business to a division of Guggenheim Partners for $480 million, a significant premium to book value.
In small caps, Lindian Resources had soared 38.1 per cent to 14.5c after the junior explorer announced a study had confirmed the feasibility of developing its Kangankunde rare earths project in the East Africa country of Malawi.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.72 US cents, from 66.29 US cents at Friday's ASX close.
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