By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 eased 22.20 points or 0.32% to 6,975.90 on Wednesday, following a flat session yesterday as risk appetite remained subdued following the RBA’s 50 basis point rate hike yesterday and further hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers overnight.
Among stocks, Consumer Discretionary led the losses, down 1.2 per cent, with JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX:JBH) falling 1.5%, Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX:DMP) down 3.3%, Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX:TAH) falling 2%, Aristocrat Leisure Ltd (ASX:ALL) down 1.6% and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) falling 1.1%.
Financials retreated 0.9% with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 1.4%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) down 0.4%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) falling 1.5%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) down 0.6% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) falling 1.1%.
Information Technology bucked the trend, gaining 2.2% overall as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) added 5%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) gained 5.8%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) lifted 8.4% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) gained 6.7%.
Meantime, Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX:PNI) popped 12.2% after reporting better than expected profits.
On the data front, retail sales rose 0.2% over the month of July, in line with analyst expectations while slowing from gains of 0.9% in the previous month.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.101% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.725%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 1.5% to 11,705.