By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 10.80 points or 0.15% to 7,076.90 on Thursday, easing from gains of 1.17% in the previous session as market participants rotated away from risky technology stocks following a pullback in the nasdaq futures after Meta platforms plunged over 20% on weaker than expected earnings results overnight.
ASX 200 Futures were down 0.12%.
Among stocks, the Technology led losses, slumping 5.48% as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) dropped 6.65%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) lost 7.2%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) fell 8.18% Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lost 7.955, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) dropped 4.13%, Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) fell 2.61%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) dipped 6.38% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) shed 7.62%.
Financials were also mixed as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) slumped 1.54% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) lost 1.18% while Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) gained 0.19%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) added 0.18% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lifted 2.31%, despite reporting a 20% drop in first-quarter cash earnings.
Materials were higher overall, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 1.82%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) adding 2.21% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) up 1.86% while Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) dropped 4.86%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) lost 6.06% and Jervois Global Limited (ASX:JRV) shed 3.48%.
Meantime, agricultural chemical company Nufarm Ltd (ASX:NUF) shares surged 14.41% after reporting that revenue for the first quarter of the 2022 financial year is up 36% from the first quarter of the 2021 financial year amid good weather conditions and strong demand for crop protection.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 1.853% while United States 10-Year yields were at 1.772%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added just 0.07% to 12,299.