The Australian share market has opened lower after Wall Street dropped sharply off the back of hotter-than-expected US inflation data.
By 10:30am AEST, the benchmark ASX 200 was down more than half a per cent to 7,006, while the broader All Ordinaries had dropped 0.7 per cent t to 7,232.
Mining services company Perenti Global led the losses on weak half year earnings, slumping 16.9 per cent, followed by local tech stocks Xero (-10pc) and Afterpay (-7pc).
The tech sector was one of the worst performing on the ASX 200, with Appen, Zip and Wisetech among the local players that also had significant falls.
Tech was among the hardest hit sectors in the US overnight, following stronger-than-expected inflation data that raised interest rate rise fears.
That in turn hits tech valuations, with higher-risk "growth" stocks priced off the return from safer assets, such as government bonds.
Healthcare, utilities and consumer non-cyclicals were leading the gains.
The top movers on the ASX 200 were Graincorp (+3.7pc), Treasury Wine Estates (+3.6pc) and Ausnet (+3.1pc).
Mining stocks also held firm as commodity prices reached new heights overnight.
Iron ore price keeps setting records
Commodity prices overall are performing well despite the stronger US dollar, which lifted off the back of higher US yields.
Indeed, surging commodity prices are one of the key factors that has many analysts worried about the prospect for sustained price rises, as they flow through from producers to end consumers.
The spot price of Iron ore surpassed its previous record high of $US230 a tonne this week, to $US237.57 per tonne on Wednesday.
The price of Brent crude oil was up 0.6 per cent and selling for $US68.69 per barrel.
Spot gold was flat and worth $US1,814.69 an ounce.
After being hammered overnight (-1.4pc) the Australian dollar was flat buying 77.24 US cents at 10:30am AEST.
Wall Street pain fuelled by rate rise concerns
Stocks on Wall Street built on their previous sessions losses as investors worried that surging inflation could force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates.
The Dow Jones suffered its worst day since January, down 2 per cent to 33,587 on the close.
The benchmark S&P 500 experienced its biggest drop since February down 2.1 per cent to 4,063, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.7 per cent to 13,031.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower with technology, consumer discretionary and communication services leading losses.
Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft all fell between 1.8 and 3.3 per cent as prospects of higher rates dampened demand for the high valuation stocks.
The yield on 10-year Treasury notes jumped to a two-week high of 1.690 per cent.
US inflation jumps
Inflation in the US is at its highest since 2008, with the core consumer price index rising 0.9 per cent in a quarter, triple the market consensus forecast.
Eurodollar futures now price an 80 per cent chance of the Federal Reserve lifting interest rates by the end of next year in response to rising prices.
"Unfortunately we will only really know if the lift in inflation proves to be transitory towards the end of the year and into next year as supply disruptions start to ease," NAB economist Tapas Strickland said.
Mr Strickland said the fear on the equity market is the Federal Reserve lifting rates aggressively.
"Moderate inflation and a slow moving Fed has been supportive to date, but inflation and a reactive Fed is negative for valuations," he said.
In contrast to the US markets, European markets lifted with the STOXX 600 index rose 0.3 per cent, Britain's FTSE by 0.8 per cent and Germany's DAX was up 0.2 per cent.