By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 42.1 points or 0.6% to 7,196.7 after the first hour of Monday’s trade, partially retracing gains of 0.8% in the previous week as market participants remained cautious following better than expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data last week, bolstering expectations of continued aggressive monetary policy tightening from Federal Reserve policymakers.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.1% lower.
Among stocks, Information Technology declined 1.7% overall with Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) down 4.9%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) falling 2.8%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) down 3.5%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) falling 3% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) down 2.5%.
Real estate companies fell 0.8% collectively with Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) down 0.9%, Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) falling 0.4%, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) down 0.4%, Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) falling 1%, Scentre Group Ltd (ASX:SCG) dipping 0.4% and Lend Lease Group (ASX:LLC) falling 0.7%.
Materials fell 1.1% with Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) down 0.8%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) falling 0.7%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) down 1.8% and Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) dipping 3.5%. Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX:LTR) lost 2.4% after the company announced that it had executed an offtake agreement with Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) for the supply of spodumene concentrate from its Kathleen Valley lithium project, while Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) fell 1.8% as the company traded ex-dividend.
Energy bucked the trend, gaining 1.6% amid rising crude oil prices. Woodside Energy Ltd (ASX:WDS) added 2%, Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) gained 1.8%, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX:BPT) added 2.1% and Viva Energy Group Ltd (ASX:VEA) lifted 0.7%.
Ahead in the week, investors will be paying close attention to fresh building approvals data as well as the Reserve Bank of Australia’s June interest rate decision and statement. Nab's business confidence reading for May will also be released on Wednesday.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.488% while United States 10-Year yields were at 2.95%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 0.6% to 11,417.