By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 lost 123.30 points or 1.77% to 6,838.30 during Thursday’s trade, touching fresh 9-month lows and falling 10.4% from its August highs as plans for interest rate hikes at the U.S. Federal Reserve sapped risk sentiment and stoked a surge in bond yields.
Among stocks, the Technology sector tanked 5%, with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) down 4.79%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) falling 9.46%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) tumbling 11.18%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) down 14.51%, Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) dropping 7.94%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) falling 6.69%, Codan Ltd (ASX:CDA) diving 10.22% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) down 15.41%.
Financials suffered losses, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) falling 3.85%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) losing 1.92%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) down 1.75%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) falling 0.37% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) losing 0.25%.
Materials stocks closed lower overall, as Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) slipped 0.1%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) lost 2.77%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) dropped 15.62%, Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) fell 6.35% and OZ Minerals Ltd (ASX:OZL) lost 2.89%. Meantime, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) gained 2.82%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) added 1.42%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) gained 2.46%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) gained 3.59%, Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) lifted 2.17% and Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) added 0.76%.
Energy stocks bucked the trend, gaining around 2.1% as Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) added 2.49%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) lifted 3.57% and Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) added 8.81%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were near fresh 3-year highs of 2.013% while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.848%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 1.11% to 12,050.