By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 finished Wednesday’s session 15.3 points or 0.2% lower at 6,508.5 as investors retreated from Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary sectors on fears of a looming economic downturn.
Among stocks, Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) lost 1.4%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lost 0.4%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) fell 2.2%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) shed 7% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lost 3.8%.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) shed 11.4% amid growing calls for the business to retreat from both the U.S. and the U.K.
Real estate stocks dipped 0.9%, with Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) down 3%, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) falling 1.6% and Scentre Group Ltd (ASX:SCG) down 1.5%.
Meantime, JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH) fell 0.4%, Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX:DMP) lost 0.1%, Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) fell 3.4% and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) dipped 0.7%.
Utilities outperformed during the session, adding 1.7% collectively as Mercury NZ Ltd (ASX:MCY) gained 4%, Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) added 0.2%, APA Group (ASX:APA) lifted 4.2% and AGL Energy Ltd (ASX:AGL) gained 0.5%.
Energy also lifted 1.2%, with Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) up 2%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) adding 1.2%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) up 2.8% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) lifted 1.4%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates eased to 3.985% while United States 10-Year yields fell to 3.235%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 0.3% to 10,679.