By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 lost 99.9 points or 1.4% to 7,008.9 during Tuesday's trade, closing at fresh multi-month lows as market participants continued their retreat amid the collapse and seizure of SVB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SIVB) and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) by U.S. Federal Reserve officials.
Among stocks, Information Technology led declines as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) shedding 4%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) down 3%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) losing 1.1$, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dropping 8.6% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) down 8%.
Energy retreated amid falling oil prices. Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) lost 2.8%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 1.8%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) lost 3.2% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) shed 3.4%.
Financials lost 1.4% collectively, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 3.1%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) losing 0.4%, ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:ANZ) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) dipping 1.5% apiece.
On the data front, Westpac consumer sentiment came in at 0% versus last month's reading of -6.9%, while NAB's business confidence came in at -4 compared to January's reading of 6.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were near 6-week lows of 3.458%, while Australia 2-Year rates were at 3.195%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 0.7% to 11,595.5.