Australian shares close lower following U.S. rate hike

The Australian market closed lower on Thursday following the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hike.

At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was down 46 points or 0.82 percent at 5,538 points, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 44.7 points or 0.79 percent at 5,595 points.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told Xinhua that apart from the SPI futures contract expiry with largely portfolio trading, it was "actually quite a low-volume day".

"So in that low-volume environment, not surprising to see some of the moves exaggerated and after the falls that we saw in oil prices overnight ... energy sector the most affected with mining stocks also hit hard."

"Clearly the sell-off in bonds also had an impact, and that hit sectors like the properties ... as were some of the dividend yield plays in the utility and telco sector."

Although the lifting of U.S. interest rates were flagged, "the response in bond markets in particular and in currency markets to some extent meant that investors suddenly realized they had more adjusting of their portfolios to do," he said.

ANZ was up 0.5 percent and Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 0.73 percent, while National Australia Bank edged up 0.13 percent and Westpac slipped 0.16 percent.

Mining giant BHP Billiton was down 1.9 percent, while rival Rio Tinto was 1.62 percent lower. Gold miner Newcrest fell 5.39 percent.

Santos fell 10.2 percent, Oil Search dropped 3.4 percent and Woodside Petroleum was down 2.92 percent.

Wesfarmers slipped 0.87 percent while rival Woolworths was up 0.61 percent.

Qantas was up 1.51 percent while telecom giant Telstra was down 1.39 percent. Endit