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Australian Market Opens Lower

The Australian stock market opened lower on Monday following the mixed lead from Wall Street on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen advocated the gradual tightening of interest rates in a symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is losing 40.20 points or 0.73 percent to 5,475.30, off a low of 5,471.90. The broader All Ordinaries Index is down 41.70 points or 0.74 percent to 5,565.70.

In the mining space, BHP Billiton is lower by 0.2 percent, Rio Tinto is declining 0.4 percent and Fortescue Metals is down 0.6 percent.

Gold miner Newcrest Mining is losing more than 3 percent and Evolution Mining is falling more than 9 percent. Evolution Mining said it has raised A$311 million through its 2-for-15 rights share offer to institutional shareholders.

Among oil stocks, Oil Search is declining more than 1 percent, Santos is down 0.5 percent and Woodside Petroleum is losing almost 3 percent.

In the banking sector, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ Bank, Westpac and National Australia Bank are lower in a range of 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent.

Hills Ltd. has named David Lenz as its new chief executive officer, succeeding outgoing Grant Logan. Shares of the company are advancing more than 1 percent.

Temple & Webster Group reported a full-year pro-forma loss of A$44 million, while sales rose from last year. The online furniture retailer's shares are lower by more than 5 percent.

Ridley Corp. said its full-year profit rose 30 percent, while revenues edged higher. The animal feedstock supplier's shares are down 0.4 percent.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is lower against the U.S. dollar after the US Federal Reserve left the door open for an interest rate hike as early as September. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7563, down from US$0.7633 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks fell Friday after a number of Federal Reserve officials said it is almost time to raise interest rates. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was among the speakers at Jackson Hole advocating gradual tightening.

The Dow slid 53.01 points or 0.29 percent to finish at 18,395.4, the S&P 500 dropped 3.43 points or 0.16 percent to close at 2,169.04 and the Nasdaq bucked the trend to rise 6.71 points or 0.13 percent to 5,218.92.

The European markets rose on Friday after Yellen said in her speech that the case for another interest-rate hike has strengthened. The DAX of Germany climbed 0.55 percent, the CAC 40 of France rose 0.80 percent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.31 percent.

Crude oil prices advanced on Friday. WTI oil for October delivery rose $0.31 to close at $47.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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Market Analysis

Major central banks, led by the U.S. Fed, dominated the economics scene this week with some delivering histroic shifts. In the U.S., the Fed was in focus as Chair Jerome Powell announced the latest policy decision and forward guidance. In Asia, all eyes were on the Bank of Japan as markets waited to see if the central bank would exit its ultra loose monetary policy. Find out how the Swiss central bank gave a surprise in Europe and learn what is the path ahead for U.K. interest rates.

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