By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - Australian shares dropped 119.20 points or 1.57% to 7,473.60 during the first hour of Friday’s trade, tracking Wall Street lower and pulling away from a near record high in the previous session as risk sentiment soured after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said a 50-basis-point interest rate increase would be "on the table" when the central bank met next month to approve the next rate hike.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.6% lower.
Among stocks, Materials fell 3.4% collectively with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) down 2.5%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) falling 3.9%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) down 2.4% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) shedding 4%.
Technology companies dipped 2.7% overall with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) down 6.1%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) falling 1.9%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) shedding 9.5%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) down 3.9% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) falling 6%.
Energy fell 2.2% as Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) lost 2%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 1.9%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) lost 2.1% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) fell 1.8%.
Financials also struggled, down 1.1% as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) dipped 1.8%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.6%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 0.7%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) dipped 0.9% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 1.4%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at fresh 7-year highs of 3.155% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.963%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 0.4% to 11,910.