By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 67.20 points or 0.94% to 7,063.60 during Friday’s trade, ending the week 0.9% lower as market participants observed a cooling of historically high commodity prices amid ongoing war in Ukraine, while rising inflationary pressures continue to fuel bets of aggressive interest rate rises from major central banks throughout the year.
Among stocks, Information Technology was down 3.21% collectively, as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) fell 3.2%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) fell 6.2%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) dipped 6.36%, Computershare Ltd. (ASX:CPU) eased 0.46%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) declined 3.98%, Iress Ltd (ASX:IRE) lost 1.89% and Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) lost 2.88%.
Materials finished 0.12% higher overall, with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) up 0.99%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) down 0.13% Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) up 0.16%, Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) adding 4.58%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) closing flat at 0.14, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) up 7.19% and Piedmont Lithium Ltd (ASX:PLL) adding 3.24%.
Nickel Mines Ltd (ASX:NIC) fell 1.64% to trade at 4-month lows as the company withdrew its share purchase plan, citing weakness in its equity value and market volatility.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 2.392% while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.979%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was down 0.88% to 11,821.