PERTH: The Australian sharemarket opened little changed, weighed down by a significant sell-off in resources stocks, after a volatile session on Wall Street where the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed a split on the timing of a US interest rate rise.
At the 10.15am (AEST) official market open, the benchmark S & P/ASX200 index edged down 1.3 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 5959.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index slipped 2.2 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 5926.1 points.
CMC chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said the release of the Federal Reserve minutes puts the board in line with investors — no-one knows exactly when US interest rates will rise.
“While talk of a June hike unsettled some, the revelation that some voting members think 2016 is the likely start of normalisation gave comfort that the Fed remains responsive to economic developments,” he said.
