Australia Stocks end lower

Australia stock market finished session lower on Monday, 21 November 2022, as risk sentiments turned downbeat amid concerns over rising Chinese COVID-19 infections and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials about interest rate hikes.

China's is currently struggling with its worst COVID outbreak since April, which had seen several cities placed under lockdown. The Beijing government reported on Sunday that one person had died from the coronavirus, the first in mainland China in around six months amid rising infections.

Hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve drove up fears of a potential U.S. recession, with members of the central bank indicating that it will not curb its rate hikes until inflation is much closer to its annual target range. The minutes of the Fed's November meeting, due later this week, are expected to shed more light on the path of U.S. monetary policy.

At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 12.58 points, or 0.18%, to 7,139.25. The broader All Ordinaries index sank 19.66 points, or 0.27%, to 7,335.08.

Total 6 of 11 sectors ended higher despite the decline in the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Utilities was the best performing sector, gaining +1.82% while Industrials (+1.05%) & Staples (+0.89%) were also strong. Materials (-1.54%), IT (-1.53%) & Energy (-0.85%) underperformed.

The top performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were AGL ENERGY and ATLAS ARTERIA, up 4.2% and 3.8% respectively. The bottom performing stocks in S&P/ASX200 index were NANOSONICS and SAYONA MINING, down 12.2% and 4.5% respectively.

Shares of Nanosonics declined 12.2% after the company reportedly faced downgrades by major firms.

Lithium miner Lake Resources was up 5.2% after announcing it has resolved a "dispute" with business partner Lilac.

Online property settlement firm PEXA Group fell over 3% after its top shareholder Link Administration exited its holding.

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