By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 lost 44.7 points or 0.6% to 7,160.1 during the first two hours of Friday’s trade, extending declines of 0.6% in the previous session and falling to 3-week lows as investors retreated following weakening U.S. retail sales data released overnight.
ASX 200 Futures added 0.5%.
Among stocks, Information Technology was hardest hit, down 1.7% collectively as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) fell 4.9%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lost 4.9%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) dipped 2.8% and Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dipped 1.8%.
Utilities were 1.7% lower overall with Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) losing 1.4%, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) dipping 1.4% and Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX:MCY) down 1.8%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 3.465% while United States 10-Year rates were at 3.464%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.4% to 11,553.9.