Australian shares snapped a six-day rally on Wednesday, dragged down by resources and banking stocks, tracking subdued global sentiment due to escalating US-China tensions and US Federal Reserve hinting at more rate hikes.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.8% to 6,941 by 0030 GMT. It had ended marginally higher on Tuesday.
A dual impact of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, stoking fresh tensions between US and China, and comments from US Federal Reserve on suggesting more interest rate hikes dampened global risk appetite.
Australian shares rise on mining, energy boost
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.8%, while S&P 500 E-minis futures fell 0.1%.
Miners and mining sub-index dropped more than 1%, with heavyweights BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group sliding between 0.4% and 1.2%.
Financials, too, shed close to 1%, with all of the so-called “Big Four” banks trading in negative territory.
Energy stocks and gold stocks dropped 1% and 1.5%, respectively, with oil majors Santos and Woodside Energy Group falling 1% each, while Australia’s largest gold miner Newcrest Mining slipped 0.9%.
Technology stocks emerged as the sole gainers on the benchmark, rising 0.6%, with ASX-listed shares of Block Inc and Xero Ltd climbing 5.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.3% to 11,573.12.
The country’s unemployment rate rose 3.3% in the second quarter, according to data released by Statistics New Zealand.
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