It was a very sad end to the trading week this Friday for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
Far from giving investors a Santa rally, the ASX 200 suffered another hefty drop, this one worth 1.24%, to close the trading week.
The index now stands at just 8,067 points as we head into the weekend.
This horrid end to a horrid week follows a more levelled Wall Street session this morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) managed to eke out a gain, inching 0.036% higher.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) wasn't so lucky though and dropped 0.1%.
But time now to grit our teeth and return to the ASX for a postmortem on the different ASX sectors today.
Winners and losers
Despite today's market savagery, we saw a handful of sectors wrangle out a rise.
But more on those in a moment.
Leading the market's losses this Friday were consumer discretionary shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) had an awful day, crashing 2.53% lower.
Financial stocks were also a trainwreck, with the S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) tanking 2.4%.
Gold shares did a little better. Saying that, the All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) still lost a hefty 1.27%.
Next up on the hit list were communications stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) took a 0.93% whack this Friday.
Healthcare shares also copped a beating today, as you'll see from the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ)'s 0.84% loss.
We could say the same for consumer staples stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) was sent 0.61% lower.
Mining shares had a rough time as well, illustrated by the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ)'s 0.55% downgrade.
Industrial stocks didn't make the cut, either. The S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) slid 0.44% lower.
Last for the losers were real estate investment trusts (REITs), with the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ) slipping 0.34%.
Turning to the winners now, it was utilities shares that came out on top. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) galloped an envy-inducing 1.54% higher today.
Energy stocks had a great day as well, evidenced by the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ)'s 1.24% surge.
Finally, ASX tech shares were given a reprieve. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) rose by 0.17%.
Top 10 ASX 200 shares countdown
Leading today's scant winners was energy stock Karoon Energy Ltd (ASX: KAR). Karoon shares bucked the market convincingly and jumped 5.28% to $1.30 a share.
There wasn't any news out of the company this Friday, but, as my Fool colleague speculated this afternoon, perhaps investors were buying back in after Karoon's tough week.
Here's a look at how the rest of today's winners landed the plane: