The local market opened lower on the back of mixed results on Wall Street. Trade picked up by mid-morning and continued to be volatile throughout the remainder of the day, closing slightly above the red line. There were mixed results from the sectors with consumer staples posting the biggest losses while energy saw the highest gains. The Australian dollar gained against most major currencies.

Asian shares were mostly lower while the US dollar dithered as markets waited anxiously for the Federal Reserve to provide guidance on the risk of US rate rises in 2016. Britain's top share index rose as oil and gas stocks and housebuilders rallied on the back of proposals in UK finance minister George Osborne's annual budget statement.

US stocks finished higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept its key interest rates unchanged and slashed its projections for rate increases in 2016. Strong gains in oil prices helped lift materials and energy stocks, buoying the main benchmarks. The Fed said in a statement that its rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave the central bank's benchmark interest rate in a range of 0.25%-0.5%. The decision was widely expected. The big change was in the Fed's so-called 'dot plot,' where officials pencilled in only two quarter-point hikes this year, down from four in December.

The Australian market looks set to open higher with the SPI Futures up 36 points following gains on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and signalled fewer rate rises for the year.

Crowe Horwath Australasia Ltd. issued this content on 17 March 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 March 2016 00:31:27 UTC

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