At noon AEST on Thursday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 39.6 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 7,624, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 41.2 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 7,895.1.
Thursday was on track to be the ASX200's seventh day of losses out of the past eight sessions. At midday it was down 35 points, or 0.46 per cent, over the course of May, putting it on track for its second straight losing month. In April it dropped 3.0 per cent.
Capital.com market analyst Kyle Rodda said a rise in global yields was forcing a re-rating in global equity prices, and a non-trivial risk of another domestic rate hike was also weighing on domestic shares.
Assistant Reserve Bank governor Sarah Hunter told an investors conference on Thursday that the RBA board was "absolutely focused" on the fact that inflation was still above target range.
Also on Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that building approvals declined 0.3 per cent in April, while business spending rose 1.0 per cent in the March quarter.Â
Seven of the ASX's 11 sectors were lower at midday, with industrials, consumer discretionaries and tech up slightly and telecommunications basically flat.
The mining sector was the biggest loser, down 1.5 per cent, with BHP down 1.7 per cent to $44.30 as the Big Australian said it would not make a firm offer for Anglo American after Anglo's board refused to extend a deadline imposed by British takeover law.
"We remain of the view that our proposal was the most effective structure to deliver value for Anglo American shareholders, and we are confident that, working together with Anglo American, we could have obtained all required regulatory approvals, including in South Africa," BHP chief executive Mike Henry said.
BHP could make another approach for Anglo American in another six months.
Fortescue was down 2.5 per cent to $24.94, Rio Tinto had slipped 1.3 per cent to $127.97, and goldminer Northern Star was down 1.9 per cent to $14.09.
The Big Four banks were all lower but more modestly, by between 0.1 and 0.3 per cent.
Catapult Group was the biggest gainer in the All Ordinaries, rising 12.7 per cent to a two and a half year high of $1.74 after the sports technology company said its revenue grew 20 per cent to $US100 million ($A151 million) for the 12 months to March 31 as more professional teams signed onto its platform.
"FY24 was a historic year for Catapult," chief executive Will Lopes said.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.03 US cents, from 66.50 US cents at Wednesday's ASX close.
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