FX.co ★ Australian Shares Follow Wall Street Lower

On Wednesday, the S&P/ASX 200 dipped by 0.4% to approximately 8,840, undoing the gains from the previous session. This decline was led by banks and miners, reflecting the downturn in Wall Street where trading slowed ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement. The Federal Reserve is anticipated to execute its initial interest rate reduction of 2025 this week, with the market fully expecting a quarter-point decrease. However, attention is directed towards the updated dot plot, which may indicate the potential for additional cuts. On the domestic front, investors remained wary in anticipation of Thursday's employment data, which is viewed as crucial for the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy decisions. The likelihood of a rate cut in September is deemed minimal, while expectations for an easing in November have been reduced to 70% due to the robustness of recent economic data. In corporate developments, BHP, a major player in the mining sector, declined by 0.6% following its announcement to halt operations and lay off 750 workers at a Queensland coking coal mine, attributing the decision to low prices and high state royalties. Similarly, Fortescue and Rio Tinto saw declines of 1% and 0.4%, respectively. In the financial sector, notable losses were led by NAB (-0.9%) and Westpac (-0.6%).