All sectors down as ASX 200 loses 1.5%

The news: Australia’s top 200 stocks dropped 1.5% to 7,195.2 on Wednesday, with all 11 sectors finishing in the red, led by tech stocks after a sharp drop in US indices overnight.

The numbers: Big losers included The Fletcher Building Group, which fell 9.3% after posting a 46% annual profit drop. Development and retail property plays Mirvac and Vicinity Centres overcame sluggish results to gain 5.3% and 2.4% respectively. By sector, IT was down 2.9%, materials lost 2.6% and financials finished 1.7% in the red. Industrials also dropped just over 1%.

The context: The downturn was broadly in line with US indices, which slumped overnight after retail sales significantly overshot expectations, increasing the likelihood of the Federal Reserve holding rates higher for longer. Tomorrow is a huge day for earnings, with Telstra, Goodman Group, ASX, Evolution Mining, Blackmores, Origin, Seven Group, Sonic Healthcare, Super Retail Group, GQG, Domain and Steadfast Group among the companies posting results. FOMC meeting minutes will be released overnight, and Australian unemployment data will follow at 11:30 tomorrow morning.