By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 47.30 points or 0.63% to 7,442.80 during Thursday’s deals, extending losses of 0.5% in the previous session as market participants retreated after Fed meeting minutes showed central bank policymakers plan to tighten monetary policy settings quicker than previously expected.
Among stocks, Technology companies led declines, down 3.4% as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) dipped 2.3%, Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) dropped 4.3%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) shed 6.4%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) fell 3.1% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) lost 6.6%.
Consumer Discretionary fell 1.6% collectively as JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH) fell 1.6%, Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) lost 1.3% and Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH) fell 0.9%.
Energy lost 1.3% as Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) fell 2.5%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) retreated 1.4% and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) lost 2.5%.
Materials finished 0.7% lower with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) down 0.1%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) falling 0.7%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) up 0.4%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) down 7.9% and Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) dipping 1.8%.
Financials were also hit as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) fell 1.5%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.1%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 0.3%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 0.5% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) dipped 0.4%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 2.914% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.57%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 finished little changed at 12,076.