The ASX 200 snapped a three-day winning streak as surging US bond yields and Nasdaq weakness triggered profit-taking.
The Australia 200 trades 83 points (-0.93%) lower at 8954 at 3.30pm AEST.
The ASX 200 is poised to snap a three-day winning streak, losing ground from the open as the buyers who chased yesterday's rally were nowhere to be seen following heavy falls on Wall Street overnight.
Wall Street's decline came as investors digested the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to keep rates on hold, which saw long-end bond yields climb to a 19-year high on concerns about a potential policy error.
The pressure was compounded by a rebound in oil prices following renewed Middle East tensions and a further unwind in semiconductor stocks that pushed the Nasdaq 100 into correction territory.
With one session left to go, the ASX 200 is on track for a fourth consecutive month of gains, up 2% month-to-date (MTD) as July once again lives up to its reputation as the best-performing month of the year, with an average return of 2.73% over the past decade. In contrast, the Nasdaq 100 is down 10.19% MTD, the Nikkei has lost 12.31%, and Korea's KOSPI has suffered a staggering 33.86% decline in just one month.
The consumer staples sector, which hit its highest level in over three years yesterday after a cooler inflation number, succumbed to profit-taking today.
A similar story played out in consumer discretionary, which hit a seven-month high yesterday.
The financials sector also ran into profit-taking after its 14% rally from the mid-May lows. The catalyst appeared to be the continued surge in United States (US) bond yields mentioned above.
With iron ore futures falling 1.34% to $96.80 in today's session in Asia:
The ASX 200 yesterday broke above the 8500 – 9000 trading range that had contained it for the past four months, hitting a five-month high of 9086.1.
However, after today's retreat, the move to the 9086.1 high has been left exposed as a false break. Should the ASX 200 now lose support at 8900ish, we would expect to see a deeper decline back towards 8700.
That said, if the ASX 200 can steady and hold above support at 8900ish and then reclaim the 9086.1 high, it would indicate the index is setting up for a retest and potential break of the 9202 record high.
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