By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 37.5 points or 0.6% to 6,649.6 during Tuesday’s deals with the rate sensitive technology sector leading declines following the release of the RBA’s meeting minutes, while energy companies improved.
Among stocks, Info Tech decreased 2.9% overall, with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) down 2.9%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) falling 2.3%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) down 0.5% and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) dipping 6%.
Health Care retreated 2.3% with CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) falling 2%, Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) down 3.7% and Resmed Inc (ASX:RMD) dipping 4.6%.
Energy bucked the trend, adding 2.5% with Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) up 3.6%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) adding 1.1% and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) up 3.5%
Meantime, Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX:WHC) finished 5.3% higher after flagging a record A$3 billion profit on Monday amid surging coal prices.
In policy news, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes from its July meeting showed that policymakers had debated raising the cash rate by either 0.25% or 0.5%, while remaining cautious of another increase of 0.75%. RBA members also noted that while short-term inflation expectations had grown, the longer-term measures “remained well-anchored”.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.545% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.969%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 finished flat at 11,162.7.