AU Evening Wrap: Shares retreat as RBA hikes interest rates

The $S&P/ASX 200 (.XJO.AU)$ closed 26 points or 0.38 per cent in the red after earlier rising as much as 36 points.

Lithium miners were boosted by a round of broker upgrades. $Pilbara Minerals Ltd (PLS.AU)$ jumped 7.03 per cent to an all-time high after Jefferies raised its price target. $Allkem Ltd (AKE.AU)$ gained 4.3 per cent after retaining its 'Outperform' rating at Macquarie. $Lake Resources NL (LKE.AU)$ put on 9.55 per cent, $Liontown Resources Ltd (LTR.AU)$ 5.69 per cent and $Core Lithium Ltd (CXO.AU)$ 9.93 per cent.

The tech sector firmed 0.7 per cent to its first gain in four sessions. $EML Payments Ltd (EML.AU)$ added 4.65 per cent, $Megaport Ltd (MP1.AU)$ 5.22 per cent and $BrainChip Holdings Ltd (BRN.AU)$ 2.26 per cent.

Fund manager $Magellan Global Fund (MGF.AU)$ dropped 2.01 per cent to a seven-week low as clients continued to pull investments. The business reported net outflows of $1.3 billion last month. Funds under management contracted to $57.6 billion from $60.2 billion in July.

$Incitec Pivot Ltd (IPL.AU)$ retreated 3.66 per cent after outlining further details of its plan to divide its explosives and fertiliser businesses into separately listed companies. The firm told an Investor Day that earnings were benefitting from a favourable commodity cycle, but the fertiliser business had been impacted by higher gas costs and lower demand.