By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The ASX 200 lost 28.70 points or 0.39% to 7,355.80 in Friday’s deals, extending declines of 0.28% in the previous session and tracking losses on Wall Street overnight as market participants remained cautious ahead of key CPI data due tomorrow, while reports of Chinese property giant Evergrande’s default also soured risk sentiment.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.16% lower.
Among stocks, technology companies were trading lower, with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 1.54%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) falling 0.72%, Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) down 1.65% and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) falling 0.57%. BNPL names declined, with Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) falling 1.97% and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) down 3.81%.
Banks were trading mixed, as Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 0.14%, 0.24% and 0.1% respectively, while Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) and Bank Of Queensland Ltd. (ASX:BOQ) added 0.57% and 0.38% respectively.
Major miners were also trading mixed, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 0.67% while BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lost 0.7% and 0.11% respectively.
Oil related stocks also declined. Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) lost 0.9%, Oil Search Ltd (ASX:OSH) fell 1.21%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) 1.65% and Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) fell 1.13%.
Meantime, Fitch Ratings downgraded China Evergrande Group (HK:3333) and its subsidiaries to "restricted default," meaning that the firm has failed to meet its financial obligations. Fitch said the downgrade reflects the company's inability to pay interest due earlier this week on two dollar-denominated bonds, noting that Evergrande made no announcement about the payments, nor did it respond to inquiries from the ratings agency.
"We are therefore assuming they were not paid," Fitch said.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were lower at 1.644% while United States 10-Year yields were steady at 1.497%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.07% to 12,763.