By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The ASX 200 dropped 102.90 points or 1.40% to 7,239.50 in Friday’s mid-morning deals, wiping out slight gains of 0.1% in the previous session, with all sectors in the red as investors tracked a continued decline in U.S. indices overnight.
ASX 200 Futures were down 0.81%.
Among stocks, the Materials sector led losses with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) down 2.91% as Serbia revoked its lithium exploration licences after pressure from protesters and BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) falling 3.23% after receiving support from shareholders to unify its corporate structure, delisting from the London Stock Exchange to make Australia its global headquarters and primary share market listing. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) fell 2.06%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) lost 2.68%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) fell 3.03%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) lost 8.11%. Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) shed 4.2%, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) fell 1.88% and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) retreated 3.23%.
Telecommunication stocks were significantly lower as Rea Group Ltd (ASX:REA) lost 2.33%, Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX:DHG) fell 2.79%, Seek Ltd (ASX:SEK) dipped 2.55%.
The Technology sector declined nearly 2% with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 1.02%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) falling 2.39%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) down 1.87%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) shedding 12.85% and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) down 0.26%.
BNPL players were lower as Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) shed 4.16% and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) lost 2.18%
The Energy sector also suffered losses as Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) lost 2.4%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 2% and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) shed 3.05%.
Among currencies, the Aussie was 0.32% lower at 0.72017 while the US Dollar Index was up 0.16% near weekly highs of 95.77%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields eased from 12-week highs to 1.898% while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.811%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.57% to 12,426.