It was another day and another loss notched up for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Thursday.

By the time trading wrapped up, the ASX 200 had descended by another 0.48%, leaving the index at 7,749.1 points.

This depressing Thursday session for ASX shares follows a more upbeat morning over on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJX: .DJI) recorded another loss, this time 0.2%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: .IXIC) managed to turn things around though, bouncing 1.22% higher.

Let's get back to the local markets now though and dive a little deeper into what the various ASX sectors were up to today.

Winners and losers

Again, we saw only two sectors eke out a gain in the market today.

But more on those in a moment.

First up, it was consumer staples stocks that were hardest hit this Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Staples Index (ASX: XSJ) ended up crashing 0.94% lower.

It's consumer discretionary counterpart came next, with the S&P/ASX 200 Consumer Discretionary Index (ASX: XDJ) tanking 0.68%.

Financial shares had another rough day too. The S&P/ASX 200 Financials Index (ASX: XFJ) plunged 0.64% down this session.

Healthcare stocks were right behind that, evidenced by the S&P/ASX 200 Healthcare Index (ASX: XHJ)'s 0.61% slump.

Then we had utilities shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Utilities Index (ASX: XUJ) sank by 0.55% by the closing bell.

Energy stocks had another tough day, with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) diving 0.53%.

Following energy we had communications shares. The S&P/ASX 200 Communication Services Index (ASX: XTJ) retreated 0.49%.

Mining stocks were also sold off, as illustrated by the 0.35% dip in the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ).

Tech shares couldn't make the cut either. The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) slid 0.05% lower today.

Industrial stocks were in the same boat, with the S&P/ASX 200 Industrials Index (ASX: XNJ) also slipping 0.05%.

Turning to the winners now, gold shares were the safest haven this Thursday. The All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) saw its value surge by 3.5%.

The other green sector was real estate investment trusts (REITs), as the S&P/ASX 200 A-REIT Index (ASX: XPJ)'s 0.02% lift shows.

This Thursday's winner was gold miner Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX: WGX). Westgold stock had a phenomenal day, shooting 8.2% higher to $2.64 a share.

There wasn't any news out of the company that prompted this spike. Saying that, most gold shares had a great day (as you'll see below), thanks to a rise in the gold price.

Here are the other winners from this session: