Australia shares fall over 2 pct

Australian shares fell 2.6 per cent on Monday, tracking negative cues from Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates on hold last week sparked uncertainty about global growth. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 133 points to 5,036.9 by 0218 GMT. Westpac down 3.8 per cent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ and NAB down almost 3 per cent, respectively. Miners also weighed on the index with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto losing more than 3 per cent each, while Fortescue shed nearly 2 per cent. Woodside Petroleum lost 3.9 per cent and Beach Energy plunged 4.6 per cent. New Zealand's benchmark NZX50 share index eased 0.58 per cent to 5,677.9, but was still near four-week highs of 5,723.55 touched last week, according to Reuters.

--Shuvo--