By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 72.3 points or 1% to 6,925.8 after the first hour of Wednesday’s trade, following a flat close on Tuesday as risk sentiment soured after the RBA lifted its cash rate to 6-year highs of 1.85%.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.9% lower.
Among stocks, Utilities led losses, down 2.3% as Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX:MCY) fell 0.2%, Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) lost 2%, AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) fell 2% and APA Group (ASX:APA) dipped 3%.
Financials lost 1.2% with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 0.5%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) falling 0.8%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) down 1.2%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) falling 1.2% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) down 1.3%.
Materials dipped 1.4% with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) falling 1.4% BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) down 1.5%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) dipping 1.6% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) shedding 5.5%.
Ahead in the session, market participants will be closely monitoring fresh Retail Sales data.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were above recent 4-month lows at 3.112% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.732%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.4% to 11,572.1.