By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was 73.80 points or 0.98% to 7,492.00 lower in Thursday’s deals, extending losses of 0.32% in yesterday’s session as investors retreated from risky assets following the latest Federal Reserve minutes which noted that policymakers may raise official interest rates sooner than expected and cut bond holdings to curb rising inflation.
ASX 200 Futures were 0.79% lower.
Among stocks, technology companies extended losses from the previous session as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) shed 3.4%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) dipped 4.11%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dropped 5.43%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) lost 1.81%, Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) fell 3.68% and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) lost 2.24%.
BNPL names also fell as Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) dropped 2.93% while Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) 9.43%.
Major financials were also lower as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) dipped 1.2%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.25%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) fell 0.52%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) dipped 0.54%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 0.37%.
Heavyweight miners lifted however, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 2.15%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) adding 1.43% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) up 1.58%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were near fresh 2-month highs of 1.836%, while United States 10-Year yields were near fresh 8-month highs of 1.7%.
On the data front, Services PMIs came in at 55.1, in line with analyst expectations and lower than last month’s reading of 55.7.