Aug 10 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Wednesday, dragged down by losses in technology stocks ahead of the U.S. inflation data and a2 Milk after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deferred its request to import infant milk formula products into the United States.
The $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU)$ fell 0.4% to 6,998.60 by 0031 GMT, with most sub-indexes down. The benchmark index closed 0.1% higher on Tuesday.
In other key markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8% to 27,771.29 and S&P 500 E-minis futures edged 0.1% lower.
Investors closely eyed July U.S. consumer prices report that is expected to provide clues on any further aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
In Australia and New Zealand, dairy producer $The a2 Milk Co Ltd(A2M.AU)$ was the top loser on both the benchmarks, slipping 7.2% and 6.9%, respectively.
Technology stocks tracked overnight losses in their Wall Street peers, slumping 3.6%, with investment services provider $Computershare Ltd(CPU.AU)$ and software maker $Xero Ltd(XRO.AU)$ sliding 4.8% and 4.4%, respectively.
The sub-index was set to mark its worst session since June 14.
Miners dropped 0.2% and were set to snap a three-session rally, as iron ore prices fell after weak steel demand.
$Fortescue Metals Group Ltd(FMG.AU)$ declined 0.2%, while $Rio Tinto Ltd(RIO.AU)$ added 0.4%. Rival $BHP Group Ltd(BHP.AU)$ was flat.
Financials inched 0.1% lower. $CommBank(CBA.AU)$ retreated 0.7% even as the country's biggest lender posted its highest annual cash earnings in four years.
The other three of the "Big Four" banks fell between 0.4% and 1.4%.
Among individual stocks, $Graincorp Ltd(GNC.AU)$ jumped 7.4% as the agribusiness firm raised its annual profit forecast for the second time.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.4% to 11,703.40.
Reporting by Upasana Singh; Editing by Rashmi Aich
