ASX 200 falls; pulled lower by CSL, IGO higher on Western Areas buy

ASX closes 0.43 per cent lower, pulled down by CSL sell off; EML Payments faces class action, IGO gains after Western Areas buy and jobless rate falls to 4.6 per cent.

The Australian sharemarket is set to open lower as the markets await a key US Fed decision. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Welcome to the Trading Day blog for Thursday, December 16. ASX has closed lower, weighed down by a sell off in CSL. It follows a strong day for tech and property stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.43 per cent or 31.4 points lower to 7295.7. The broader All Ordinaries index was down by 22.1 points or 0.3 per cent to 7617.10.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 reversed earlier losses to close up  1.1 and 1.6 per cent respectively as the market responded to more decisive action by the US central bank. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2.2 per cent.

Iron ore traded 1.3 per cent higher to $US109.70 a tonne. The US Nymex crude price climbed 1.2 per cent to $US71.56 a barrel.