News: XGD Tech stocks drag Australia shares lower on U.S. inflation anxiety

May 13 (Reuters) - Australian shares slipped on Thursday, as local technology stocks got whacked after a stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data raised concerns of a tighter monetary policy and set off further selling in growth stocks on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 (xjo) was down 0.4% at 7,016.4 points, as of 0026 GMT.

Wall Street closed lower overnight as inflation data showed consumer prices unexpectedly rose by the most in nearly 12 years in April, fuelling concerns over whether interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve could happen sooner than anticipated.

In other markets, Japan's Nikkei .N225 was down 1.36% at 27765.67, and the S&P 500 E-minis futures EScv1 were up 0.25%.

Back home, Aussie tech stocks .AXIJ tracked a slump on the Nasdaq .IXIC and tumbled more than 5% to their lowest since Oct. 5, 2020.

Accounting software platform Xero (XRO) fell 10.8%, even as it reported higher full-year results.

Sector heavyweight Afterpay (APT) slumped 6.83%. Gold stocks .AXGD slipped 1.43% as the precious metal snapped a five-session winning streak after April's jump in U.S. consumer prices buoyed the dollar and Treasury yields.

Gold miner Andromeda Metals (ADN) fell 7.14%, followed by Bellevue Gold (BGL) losing 6.21%.

Among individual stocks, the world's largest-listed winemaker Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) rose as much as 2.6%, as its forecast range for 2021 operating earnings was ahead of market expectations.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 (nz50) fell 0.53% to 12,497.1 points.

($1 = 1.2943 Australian dollars)