Stocks in Australia fell Thursday, led by banks and iron ore
miners, while losses in the rest of Asia were limited after the
U.S. Federal Reserve signaled that interest rates could increase
more slowly than expected.
The S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.1% at 5532.20.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Commonwealth Bank of
Australia and Macquarie Group Ltd. were each lower by roughly 1.5%,
after financials also dropped in the U.S.
Iron-ore miners followed the commodity's overnight price decline
to trade substantially lower.
In particular, shares of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. have
dropped roughly 7% over the past week as iron ore retreats toward
the $60 per ton mark. Fortescue, which continues to shoulder
burdensome debt, fell as low as A$2.08 earlier Thursday, its
weakest value in almost a month.
Similar losses for crude-oil futures helped push Oil Search Ltd.
down 2.3% and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. down 1.3%
Elsewhere in the region, stocks were mixed, after forecasts
released by the U.S. Fed on Wednesday showed most officials expect
to begin raising short-term interest rates before the end of the
year.
Still, Fed officials lowered their interest-rate forecasts for
2016 and 2017 by a quarter percentage point, suggesting they have
become less certain about the strength of the U.S. economy in the
longer run. The Fed characterized economic growth as moderate in
its statement. In the news conference, Chairwoman Janet Yellen
reaffirmed that the decision to raise rates would be dependent on
economic data.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.7% but the Hang Seng was
roughly flat and Korea's Kospi rose 0.3%.
The Japanese yen was at 123.47 against the U.S. dollar, roughly
unchanged from 123.43 late Wednesday in New York.
Rhiannon Hoyle and Saumya Vaishampayan contributed to this
article.
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