By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was down 25.6 points or 0.4% at 6,967.4 after the first hour of Tuesday’s trade, snapping five session of consecutive gains as investors proved cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s widely expected 50 basis point rate hike and statement later in the session.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.2% lower.
Among stocks, Materials led losses, falling 1.4% as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) dipped 1%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) fell 1.5%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) 3.2% while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) eased 2.1%.
Energy lost 1.1%, with Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) down 0.6%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) falling 1%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) down 1.4% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) losing 1.3%.
Real Estate stocks also fell 0.8% as Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) dipped 1.7%, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) fell 1.3%, Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) lost 0.9% and Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) dipped 1%.
Meantime, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell 25.2% after flagging a major earnings downgrade, while Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX:CCP) shed 10.9% after the company lifted its net profit 9% to $96.2 million for FY 2022.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 3.045% while United States 10-Year rates were at 2.536%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.3% to 11,495.8.