Australian shares have plunged, tracking Wall Street losses last week after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated a hawkish tone to battling inflation, while miner Fortescue Metals skidded after posting a lower annual profit.
Powell said in his speech at the Jackson Hole central banking conference that the Fed would raise rates as high as necessary to limit growth and tackle inflation, in what was said to be his bluntest language yet about what was in store for the world's biggest economy.
