March 24 (Reuters) - Australian shares dropped on Thursday, set for their worst day in more than a week, as technology stocks tracked their Wall Street peers lower after investors reassessed the outlook for global growth amid broadening inflationary pressures.
The S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.1% at 7,373.50 points, as of 0009 GMT, on track for its worst day since March 15, if losses hold. The benchmark closed 0.5% higher on Wednesday.
The local bourse encountered early pressure tracking a lower Wall Street overnight, with all three major U.S. stock indexes closing more than 1% lower.
Australian financials slipped 0.9%, set for their worst day since March 7. The "Big Four" banks fell between 0.6% and 1.3%.
Separately, the country's No. 2 lender National Australia Bank Ltd said it will start a further on-market share buyback of up to A$2.5 billion ($1.87 billion).
Technology stocks tracked their U.S. peers lower to drop 1.8%, poised for their worst day in nearly two weeks.
Australian shares of Block Inc retreated as much as 4.7%, while JB Hi-Fi Ltd climbed up to 4.6% after the electronics retailer posted an upbeat quarterly total sales growth for Australia and New Zealand.
Commodities climbed, led by oil, as the Ukraine conflict continues, with Western leaders to meet on Thursday looking to place more sanctions on Russia.
Miners gained 1.4% as iron ore prices edged up on Wednesday, with sector heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Group climbing 1.8% and 1.3%, respectively, while Fortescue Metals Group was down 0.1%.
Energy stocks advanced 1.6%, boosted by strong oil prices as disruptions to Russian and Kazakh crude exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium pipeline lifted concerns over tight global supplies.
Woodside Petroleum, Santos and Beach Energy gained between 1.5% and 2.3%.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.4% to 12,010.73 points.
(Reporting by Upasana Singh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
