The major banks also closed lower on Thursday. Commonwealth Bank fell 0.7 per cent to $68.92, Westpac slid 1.1 per cent to $24.07, ANZ declined 1.6 per cent to $23.55 and NAB closed 1 per cent lower at $23.09. The stronger US dollar pushed the price of gold down Newcrest Mining slid 2.5 per cent to $20.89, Evolution Mining fell 2.9 per cent to $3.43, Northern Star Resources closed 4.6 per cent lower at $8.59 and St Barbara declined 4.7 per cent to $4.46. Australian shares fell to a two-year low on Thursday. Credit:Michele Mossop MYOB shares fell 14 per cent to $2.90 after private equity giant KKR revised its bid for the accounting software company. In October, its initial offer was worth $3.70 but on Thursday, it pitched a new offer worth just $3.40 a share. MYOB's board informed KKR it is not recommending shareholders accept the revised offer. BWX downgraded its earnings for the second time in less than three months on Thursday, citing slowing domestic export sales to China and lost momentum in its core US brand. The company said it expected normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the 2019 financial year would be in the range of $27 million to $32 million and EBITDA in the first half to be around $7 million. Its shares fell 46.7 per cent to $1.53.

GTN shares fell 38.6 per cent to $1.08 after the company told investors it was anticipating adjusted earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation for the second half of 2018 would be 10 to 15 per cent less than the second half of 2017. Defensive infrastructure and real estate investment trust stocks were among the market's best performers on Thursday. Goodman Group rose 1.1 per cent to $11.07, Mirvac Group closed 1.3 per cent higher at $2.33, Scentre Group climbed 1 per cent $4.04 and GPT Group advanced 1.6 per cent to $5.63. Stock watch Australian Pharmaceutical Industries

Morgan Stanley upgraded Australian Pharmaceutical Industries to "equal weight" after API proposed a merger with rival Sigma Healthcare on December 14. API estimated $60 million of gross financial benefits from the merger, due to synergies between the two companies in pharmacy distribution and back office savings. Lead by analyst Sean Laaman, Morgan Stanley said it saw bulk synergies to come from rationalisation of the distribution centre and network. The broker refrained from rating API overweight due to volatility and merger uncertainty. API attempted this same merger in 2002 and was denied by the ACCC. The ACCC is yet to rule on the current proposal. Australian Pharmaceutical Industries shares closed Thursday's trade 1.1 per cent higher at $1.38. What moved the market

Fed funds rate

As was widely expected, the Federal Open Market Committee lifted the Fed Funds rate target by a further 25 basis points to a range of 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent. The Fed stated that it "judges that some further gradual increases" in the Fed Funds rate would be in time with its policy target. The market reacted negatively to the statement, surprised by the less dovish than expected tone from the FOMC. The market has priced in lower expectations in the past few months, with only two hikes expected in the year ahead based on marker pricing for funds rate futures. Brent crude

Brent crude prices recovered slightly on Wednesday but remain under firm pressure. The EIA weekly report showed crude oil stockpiles fell by half a million barrels to 441.5 million barrels last week. Gasoline and distillate inventories also fell on the back of a surge in demand for oil in the US. Crude oil had been trading higher but were slightly lower by the end of the session on the back of the Fed rate hike. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, reaffirmed its belief that the proposed OPEC+ production cuts would bring the market back into the balance, adding the deal will likely be extended past April. US dollar

The US dollar rose sharply after the Federal Open Market Committee lifted interest rates for the fourth time this year and flagged further interest rates in the future. The greenback, which had been weakening prior to the policy statement, rose after investors interpreted the statement as less dovish than they were expecting. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said he saw little threat to the economy despite the recent downturn in financial markets. The US treasury curve also flattened overnight, with the spread between the two and 10-year bond yields now at 13 basis points. Aussie dollar

The Australian dollar slipped below US71¢ for the first time since November 1 on Thursday following the FOMC's rate rise. Despite recovering above US71¢ through the morning session, the gains were capped by a slightly disappointing labour market prince. While part time employment surged by 37,000 during November, the unemployment rate ticked slightly higher to 5.1 per cent. The market had been expected the unemployment rate to remain steady at 5 per cent. The labour force figures were the last major economic data point this year.