The Australian bourse finished lower on Monday amid some profit-taking, although heavyweight mining and bank stocks partly recouped their losses after a speech by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens described a "robust economic upswing" in Australia.

At the official market close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index ended 7.6 points or 0.2 per cent down to 4631.3. It declined to as low as 4604.8 during the day.

The broader All Ordinaries index, meanwhile, took off 8 points or 0.2 per cent at 4677.1.

Among the sectors, materials had shed 0.3 per cent, financials slid 0.1 per cent, while telecommunications added 0.6 per cent.

Comments from RBA Governor Stevens that retail conditions in Australia are not as tough as they were are likely behind the move, according to IG Markets analyst Ben Potter.

The big four banks were mixed, as Commonwealth Bank finished 13 cents lower at $52.58 while National Australia Bank was 11 cents softer at $25.86. ANZ and Westpac reversed early losses to close 13 cents higher at $23.96 and 2 cents firmer at $23.43, respectively.

The resource giants were also in the red with BHP Billiton down 12 cents at $38.78, and Rio Tinto giving up 55 cents to $74.98.

Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group bucked the trend, adding 4 cents to $4.88. This made it the second best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 50 index behind supply chain and data management company Brambles, which was six cents higher at $6.47.

Among the oil companies, Woodside Petroleum edged down 0.38 per cent to $43.60, Santos reversed 1.29 per cent to $12.93 and Oil Search dropped 1.32 per cent to $5.97.