SYDNEY: Australian shares posted their biggest drop since September 2020 on Thursday, after the minutes of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting signalled an earlier-than-anticipated rate hike, sharply hitting technology sector stocks.

The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 2.7% down at 7,358.3, after plunging 3% earlier, with all sectors ending in the red. It had shed 0.3% on Wednesday.

Australian markets joined a global sell-off after Fed policymakers said at their December meeting that concerns over hot inflation could prompt them to raise rates sooner than expected and trim overall asset holdings.

Leading losses on the benchmark, technology stocks tumbled 6.4% to hit their lowest in seven months, tracking a 3.3% drop overnight in Wall Street’s tech-focused Nasdaq.