April 22 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell after five straight sessions of gains on Friday, weighed down by mining and technology stocks, as sentiment was hit by concerns over demand weakness from top steel producer China and aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes.

The S&P/ASX 200 index declined 1.6% to 7,473.3 points at the close, with the benchmark index posting a weekly loss of 0.7%, its biggest fall in five weeks.

U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday a half-point interest rate increase "will be on the table" when the Fed meets on May 3-4 to approve the next in what are expected to be a series of rate increases this year.

"Red flags are going up today," said Stephen Innes managing partner at SPI Asset Management in a note.

"When the market decides to focus on a super hawkish inflation-fighting Fed narrative stoking recession fears, it typically triggers significant shifts in investor behaviours and conversations, and markets then turn a lot more caution."

The index has been posting small gains over the past few sessions helped by a near $15 billion bid for Australia's largest private hospital provider Ramsay Health Care and corporate updates as earnings season kicks off.

Local Miners dropped 3.5%, leading losses on the day, tracking iron ore prices.

Iron ore behemoth BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals fell between 1% and 4%.

Technology stocks slipped 2.5% as cloud services provider Megaport tumbled 10% to the bottom of the ASX 200, and ASX-listed shares of Block Inc fell 6.4%.

Gold stocks fell 2.6%, marking their first weekly drop in nearly three months, as bullion prices slipped. The country's largest gold miner Newcrest Mining slipped nearly 2%

The only gainer was the healthcare sector up 0.5%.

In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed 0.38% lower at 11,908.4 points.

(Reporting By Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)