At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 128.78 points, or 1.84%, to 6,857.88. The broader All Ordinaries index dropped 127.21 points, or 1.77%, to 7,050.59.
The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were PERPETUAL and NEW HOPE CORP, up 7.1% and 5.9% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were DOMINO'S PIZZA and PENDAL GROUP, down 11.7% and 10.7% respectively.
Investors avoided risky assets following the US Federal Reserve's 75-basis-point rate hike and a statement from US Fed Chair Jerome Powell that indicated that the central bank's fight against inflation is far from over.
Shares of materials and energy companies advanced on tracking rebound in commodity prices. Mining heavyweights BHP Group, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto rose between 1.7% and 3%. Energy sector major Woodside Energy advanced about 3%, while Santos climbed 2.2%.
Lithium miner Lake Resources jumped 5.2% after saying it had completed the onsite construction of a modular processing demonstration plant for its Kachi lithium project in Argentina.
Financials bucked the trend, with the three of the country's big four banks National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking, and Westpac adding between 0.2% and 0.7%. Commonwealth Bank was down 0.1% even as the lender said it would hike its loan variable interest rates by 25 basis points per annum from the end of next week, in line with the Reserve Bank's interest rate increase.
Shares of Perpetual, an investment fund and trustee group, soared 7.1% after it rejected a $1.68 billion takeover bid from a consortium of buyers and backed the $2.51 billion offer from rival Pendal Group.
Shares of the Rhythm Biosciences closed 11% higher after the company expanded its executive management team to satisfy department demand requirements, appointing Elena Deak as chief commercial officer and Paul Smith as chief financial officer. The cancer diagnostics company also successfully registered ColoSTAT, a blood test used to detect colorectal cancer, with the New Zealand national database of medical devices.
Shares of the Orbital climbed 9% after the company statement that it started the delivery of engine builds to Insitu Pacific, which is responsible for supplying the Australian army with tactical uncrewed aerial systems.
ECONOMIC NEWS: The services sector in Australia slipped into contraction territory in October, the latest survey from S&P Global showed on Thursday with a services PMI score of 49.3. That's down from 50.6 in September, and it falls beneath the boob-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The trade surplus on Australia's goods and services increased to A$12.44 billion in September from A$8.66 billion in August amid higher exports, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Goods and services exports rose month on month to A$53.81 billion from A$50.23 billion, owing to gains from other mineral fuels exports
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