Australia: Mining, tech stocks drag shares to 8-month low

[BENGALURU] Australian shares fell on Monday in a sector-wide sell-off, dented by miners and technology stocks, as investors kept a cautious stance following a lower finish in Nasdaq amid fears of inflation and policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve.

The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.7 per cent at 7,123.2 points, as of 2331 GMT. The benchmark hit its lowest level since last May.

All main indexes on Wall Street ended sharply lower over the weekend as Netflix shares plunged after a weak earnings report that also weighed on rivals.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.7 per cent, while the S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.4 per cent.

Investors are keenly focused Fed meeting this week for more clarity on the U.S. central bank's plans to tighten monetary policy in the coming months.

Back home, Australian tech stocks shed 2.5 per cent to hit their lowest in more than eight months. EML Payments Ltd slid 3.4 per cent to its lowest level since Nov 24.

The heavyweight metals and mining index, which led losses on the benchmark, dropped more than 2.6 per cent.

South32 was down 8.1 per cent in its worst intraday session since March 2020 after the diversified miner warned of potential coronavirus-related impact from workforce restrictions at its flagship Illawarra project in the second half.

Regis Resources Ltd was the biggest loser on the benchmark as shares fell 15.7 per cent to their biggest one-day percentage loss since March 2015 after the company slashed its full-year outlook.

Gold miners followed suit, losing 2.5 per cent to post their worst session since Jan 6, dragged by Northern Star Resources, down 3.1 per cent.

Energy stocks fell 1.4 per cent on the back of weak oil prices, with power producer Origin Energy losing 2.8 per cent. Financials also slid 1.4 per cent, hitting their lowest since Dec 2, weighed down by a 1.6 per cent slump in major lender Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 1.5 per cent to 12,157.3 points.

Cancer diagnostics firm Pacific Edge was the worst performer on the bourse, down 7.4 per cent, hitting its lowest mark in eight months.

REUTERS