By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 6,984.80 in Monday’s mid-morning deals, trading at 9-month lows after losses of 2.6% in the previous week, with growth stocks beaten down as investors rotated away from riskier assets after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated that policymakers will be aggressively tightening monetary policy settings throughout the year.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.1% higher.
In market news, traders are tracking a slew of local and international trading updates this week.
Among stocks, Technology companies led the gains, up around 2.3% as Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) popped 8.18%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) added 0.75%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lifted 3.25%, Altium Ltd (ASX:ALU) added 3.25% and Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) gained 2.84%.
Meantime, Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) added 5.44% and Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) lifted 5.69%.
Financials were lower overall, as Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) lost 0.1%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) fell 1.86%, Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) was down 1.15%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) lost 1.99% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) dipped 1.21%.
Materials also suffered losses, as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) fell 3.4%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) dipped 2.6% and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) was down 0.1%, while Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) gained 0.47%, Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) added 2.83%, Arizona Lithium Ltd (ASX:AZL) gained 5.84%, Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) lifted 1.7% and Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) gained 1.92%.
REITs rallied with Mirvac Group (ASX:MGR) up 2.3%, Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) added 2.37%, Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) up 1.48% and Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX:SGP) adding 3.58%.
Among currencies, the Aussie was trading near fresh 18-month lows of 0.69952, while the US Dollar Index was at 18-month highs of 97.203.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 1.918%, while United States 10-Year rates were at 2-year highs of 1.795%.
Ahead in the week, market participants will be monitoring the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision and statement on Tuesday, as officials discuss its $A4 billion a week bond buying program and record low interest rates against a backdrop of rising inflation that has roiled financial markets.
On the data front, retail sales data and the NAB Quarterly Business Confidence survey will also be released.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was up 0.61% to 11,924.