THE stockmarket opened lower after comments the Federal Reserve overnight suggested stimulus activity in the US may soon be eased.
At 10.34am AEST the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 44.5 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 5120.9 points. The broader All Ordinaries index was down 43.6 points, or 0.85 per cent, at 5098.5 points.
Wall Street stocks retreated after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress the US central bank could pull back on its aggressive stimulus measures, known as quantitative easing (QE) if economic conditions continued to improve.
IG market strategist Stan Shamu said he thought the market had over-reacted, as Mr Bernanke's comments were not new. He said he did not expect any rash action that would damage the economy.
"I don't think they will want to risk pulling off quantitative easing if it caused the economy to stall, so I think there is a long way to run yet,'' he said.
