Australian shares inched lower on Wednesday, dragged down by technology and gold stocks, as rising Treasury yields sparked a panic selloff of the bullion and some big US tech names.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.2% to 7,395.1 by 0039 GMT. The benchmark index closed up 0.8% on Tuesday.
Gold stocks fell 1.7% after the price of the safe-haven asset dropped to a near three-week low as the renomination of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell fuelled bets of faster interest rate hikes.
Gold miners Westgold Resources led losses in the sector, dropping as much as 3.8%, while heavyweight Newcrest Mining fell 2.2%.
Tech stocks also dropped 1.1%, tracking the Wall Street where the rising Treasury yields prompted investors to sell Tesla and other big tech names and buy stocks with lower valuations.
Software maker TechnologyOne Ltd was the top loser on the sub-index, tracking its worst day in since May 2021, after brokerage Jefferies cut rating on the stock.
Bucking the trend, domestic energy stocks rose 1.5% buoyed by a 3% jump in oil prices to a one-week high, after a move by the United States and other consumer nations to release tens of millions of barrels of oil from reserves to try to cool the market fell short of some expectations.
Woodside Petroleum was the top boost to the sub-index, rising 2.8%, while smaller rivals Santos and Oil Search added 2.4% and 1.9%, respectively.
Australian shareholder registry firm Link Administration Holdings was the top gainer on the benchmark, a day after it received a new unsolicited proposal from Ireland-based LC Financial Holdings (LCFH) to buy its banking and credit management (BCM) business.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely unchanged at 12,687.29.
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