Australia: Tech stocks drag shares lower on US inflation anxiety

[BENGALURU] Australian shares slipped on Thursday, as local technology stocks got whacked after a stronger-than-expected US inflation data raised concerns of a tighter monetary policy and set off further selling in growth stocks on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.4 per cent at 7,016.4 points, as of 0026 GMT.

Wall Street closed lower overnight as inflation data showed consumer prices unexpectedly rose by the most in nearly 12 years in April, fuelling concerns over whether interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve could happen sooner than anticipated.

In other markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 1.36 per cent at 27765.67, and the S&P 500 E-minis futures were up 0.25 per cent.

Back home, Aussie tech stocks tracked a slump on the Nasdaq and tumbled more than 5 per cent per cent to their lowest since Oct 5, 2020.

Accounting software platform Xero fell 10.8 per cent, even as it reported higher full-year results.

Sector heavyweight Afterpay slumped 6.83 per cent.

Gold stocks slipped 1.43 per cent as the precious metal snapped a five-session winning streak after April's jump in US consumer prices buoyed the dollar and Treasury yields.

Gold miner Andromeda Metals fell 7.14 per cent, followed by Bellevue Gold losing 6.21 per cent.

Among individual stocks, the world's largest-listed winemaker Treasury Wine Estates rose as much as 2.6 per cent, as its forecast range for 2021 operating earnings was ahead of market expectations.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.53 per cent to 12,497.1 points.

REUTERS