Australia Shares Flat Ahead of Federal Reserve Decision
October 27 2015 - 2:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE, Australia--Australian stocks ended slightly lower
Tuesday as investors across the region remained wary at the start
of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
Resources counters fell sharply after oil prices extended losses
and iron-ore dropped, countering modest gains in other industry
sectors.
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.03% lower at 5346.20, after nudging
down 3.6 points the day before.
"Despite the poor performance seen across the Asian region, the
ASX has managed to grimly cling on around the 5350 level," said
Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne, adding that
another push higher by the region's markets likely would require a
definitive signal from the Fed that interest-rate increases would
be pushed to next year.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) fell 2.5%,
Santos Ltd. (STO.AU) slipped 1.3% and Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG.AU)
declined 3.6%.
Iron-ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU) lost 9%,
while diversified mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) and
Rio Tinto Ltd. (RIO.AU) were down 0.9% and 1.9%, respectively.
South32 Ltd. (S32.AU) fell 1%.
The big banks were mixed, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(CBA.AU) up 0.3% and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
(ANZ.AU) rising 0.1%, but Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) down 0.2%.
Shares in National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU) were halted ahead
of an announcement the company said was related to a "material
transaction."
The focus will turn to banks on Wednesday when the NAB's trading
halt is likely to be lifted and it is due to release full-year
results. ANZ is set to turn in its annual numbers on Thursday,
while Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG.AU), which rose 0.8% Tuesday, is
scheduled to report half-year results on Friday.
Link Administration Holdings debuted on the ASX with an 11%
rally after the financial-administration services provider's
initial public offering.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2015 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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