By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 dipped 52.90 points or 0.71% to 7,355.90. in Wednesday’s mid-morning deals, following declines of 0.1% in the previous session as market participants track a slew of trading updates both locally and abroad, while retreating from riskier assets as bond yields pushed higher ahead of a forecasted hike in interest rates later this year.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.08% higher.
Among stocks, major miners eased with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) down 0.36% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) falling 2.27%. BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) lost 0.8% after forecasting a range for copper production and reducing metallurgical coal guidance. Rare earth miners also lifted, with Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) 5%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) adding 2.63% and Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) up 0.63%
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) was down 0.09%, after reporting a record $A200 million in sales for the December quarter. Chief executive Amanda Margaret Lacaze noted that “Demand for Lynas products remained very strong during the quarter and favourable market conditions continued, with customers indicating their expectation of accelerated demand in the next quarter.”
Technology names declined, with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 0.79%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dipping 9.4%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) losing 2.37%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) shedding 3.38% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) falling 4.5%.
Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) plunged 13% after releasing an underwhelming trading update, reporting a quarter on quarter increase of just $0.6 million or 7% in its monthly recurring revenue.
Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) bucked the trend, rallying 18.28% and continuing its recent surge
Financials declined significantly, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 2.45%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) losing 0.9%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) down 1.64%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) falling 1.09% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) shedding 1.21%.
On the bond markets, United States 10-Year yields pushed to near 3-month highs of 1.989%, while Australia 10-Year rates were at fresh 2-year highs of 1.875%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 1.19% to 12,662.