By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was lower in Friday’s mid-day deals, dropping 79.60 points or 1.09% to 7,216.60 following gains of 0.5% in the previous session as cautious traders monitored an evolving situation in Ukraine, after U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that there was a high risk that Russia would invade the country.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.37% lower.
Among stocks, Health Care and Utilities led declines, down 2.4% and 2.3% respectively. CSL Ltd (ASX:CSL) fell 2.66%, Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) was down 0.76%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Ltd (ASX:FPH) lost 0.55%, Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX:RHC) dipped 0.63%, Pro Medicus Ltd (ASX:PME) lost 1.22% and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:CUV) declined 0.66%. Meantime, Meridian Energy Ltd (ASX:MEZ) lost 0.64%, Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) lost 5.11%, and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) dipped 0.41%.
Financials were about 1% lower as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lost 1.75%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 0.53%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) dipped 1.04%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 0.38% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) shed 0.88%.
Technology stocks also retreated, as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lost 0.83%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dipped 1.25%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lost 2.46%, Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA) dragged 3.04%, Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) retreated 3.34% and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) fell 2.65%.
Traders were also monitoring fresh corporate earnings results, with Magellan Financial Group Ltd (ASX:MFG) up 13.54% Interim chief executive Kirsten Morton, who took over when Brett Cairns resigned suddenly last December, noted the group’s robust balance sheet and strong margins would enable continued investment in the business.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 2.163%, while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.962%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 0.92% to 12,144.