By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was 207.50 points or 2.74% lower at 7,358.30 on Thursday, extending declines of 0.32% in yesterday’s session amid broad-based losses after minutes from the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting last month outlined plans to reduce its balance sheet as well as hike rates throughout 2022, as officials remain concerned about price increases, a "tight" labour market, and global supply bottlenecks.
The Technology sector saw the heaviest losses falling 6.37% and posting its worst session since February 2021. Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) shed 4.82%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) dipped 6.57%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) dropped 6.93%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) lost 6.52%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) dropped 4.84%, Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) fell 6.93%, Nextdc Ltd (ASX:NXT) lost 7.12% and Technology One Ltd (ASX:TNE) lost 3.66%.
BNPL names also fell as Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) dropped 5.85% while Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) plunged 10.76%.
Major financials were also lower as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) shed 2.99%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) lost 1.35%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) fell 3.13%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) dipped 2.16%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) lost 1.65%.
Gold miners also fell with St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) down 3.56%, Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) losing 4.19%, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) down 3.1%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) falling 4.54%, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) shedding 5.85%, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) down 3.37% and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) falling 5.39%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were near fresh 2-month highs of 1.852%, while United States 10-Year yields lifted to fresh 8-month highs of 1.728%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 lost 1.27% to 12,983.