(Updates to close)
Oct 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares ended effectively flat on Wednesday, undermined by losses in commodities, after a sour start to earnings season on Wall Street and growing fears of an imminent U.S. interest rate hike hurt sentiment. .N MKTS/GLOB
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO closed 5.2 points or 0.09 percent or lower at 5474.60.
Materials and energy stocks dragged a little on the benchmark index, with large cap miners BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) Ltd BHP.AX ending down 1.5 percent and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd FMG.AX closing 2.9 percent lower.
Sentiment was also affected by a weak Australian dollar AUD=D4 which slumped to a three-week low, and an overnight drop in oil prices. O/R TOP/FRX
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 hit a 12-week low before closing down 0.24 percent or 16.77 points lower to finish the session at 7107.460.
Most of the index constituents fell with tech stocks leading the losses, while financials and utilities were the only gainers.
Xero Ltd XRO.NZ and Summerset Group Holdings Ltd SUM.NZ shed over 2 percent and were the worst performers on the index.