News: XEJ Australian shares plunge to 11-month low on rate hike worries

	  Financial stocks decline 1.5%  

	  US job openings unexpectedly rise in August 

	  NZ central bank holds rates 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares closed at an 11-month low on Wednesday as the domestic central bank's hawkish comments and a stronger-than-expected U.S. job openings data fueled rate hike worries.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) fell 0.8% to 6943.4. The benchmark had slipped 1.3% on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, data showed U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in August, sparking a sell-off in Wall Street on concerns that a still-tight labour market could compel the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next month.

"The ASX was primarily impacted by Wall Street’s movement overnight as the surging U.S. bond yields had sent the Australian government bond yields soaring too, which caused the risk-off movements across the APAC region," Tina Teng, analyst at CMC Markets, said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held interest rates steady on Tuesday, but warned that further tightening might be needed to bring inflation to heel in a reasonable timeframe.

Global markets declined on Wednesday, crushed by a fresh surge in U.S. Treasury yields.

The decline in the ASX is a small one compared with the drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking, said.

In Sydney, financials .AXFJ dropped the most, falling 1.5%, with the "big four" banks falling between 1.5% and 1.9%.

Energy .AXEJ stocks lost 1.1% with sector behemoths Woodside Energy (WDS) and Santos (STO) falling 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.

Mining .AXMM and tech .AXIJ stocks fell 0.2% and 0.5% while gold stocks .AXGD climbed 0.8%.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) fell 0.01% to end at 11235.72.

The country's central bank held rates steady on Wednesday as policymakers were more confident that past hikes were working to bring down inflation as desired.

Interest rates will need to remain at a restrictive level for the foreseeable future to ensure retail inflation returns to its 1% to 3% target range, it added.