Oct 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Tuesday ahead of a central bank rate decision, with technology and healthcare stocks leading the decline after Wall Street closed sharply lower overnight on concerns over rising bond yields.
The benchmark ASX 200 index was down 0.4% by 0007 GMT after declining as much as 0.6% to 7,231.9.
The S&P 500 fell 1.8% on Monday to its lowest since mid-July and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.6% on renewed U.S.-China trade tensions and inflation concerns.
Australian tech stocks fell 4.01% in their biggest intraday drop since May 13. Buy-now-pay-later giant Afterpay Ltd and WiseTech Global Ltd were the worst performers on the index, losing 6.8% and 4.4% respectively.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia is not expected to change its cash rate of 0.10%, where it has been since a cut last November, a Reuters poll showed.
Metals and mining stocks shed 0.4%, led by a 5.6% drop in Ioneer Ltd and a 4.6% fall in Australian Strategic Materials (Holdings) Ltd. Global miners BHP Group and Fortescue Metals Group lost 0.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
Bucking the trend, energy stocks rose 2.5% after oil prices jumped to a three-year peak on Monday, with heavyweights Oil Search Ltd and Santos Ltd leading the rise.
Gold miners jumped 1.7% and were on track for a fifth consecutive session of gain, as bullion prices rose overnight to a more than one-week high. Tietto Minerals Ltd jumped 10.5%, while Auteco Minerals Ltd gained 9.3%.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.8% to 13,236.7.
New Zealand business confidence dropped in the third quarter as the latest COVID-19 lockdown hurt sentiment, a private think tank said. (Reporting by Aditya Munjuluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
