Australia shares seen with a cautious start

30 Oct, 2014

SYDNEY: Australian shares are set to have a muted start on Thursday following disappointing results from the country's fourth lender by market value.

National Australia Bank said annual cash profit fell almost 10 percent, its second drop in three years, hit by writedowns for its troubled UK business.

A small dip on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve ended its stimulative monthly bond-buying program and expressed confidence in US economic prospects is also likely to weigh on Australian shares.

Local share price index futures rose 1 point to 5,430.0, a 17.7-point discount to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index on Wednesday. The benchmark index fell 0.1 percent in the last session.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was up 0.7 percent in early trade.

Both the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent after the Fed comments.

Copyright Reuters, 2014

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