Westpac was the only big bank in the red, losing more than 1.5 per cent after the lender went ex-dividend.

In contrast ANZ climbed three per cent, the Commonwealth Bank advanced two per cent and NAB bumped up 1.36 per cent.

Resource stocks were mainly weaker, led by BHP Billiton which was off 2.55 per cent due to continued worries about its Brazilian mine disaster.

Rival Rio Tinto was also down 0.2 per cent.IG Markets analyst Angus Nicholson said the Australian stock market was benefiting from a slightly positive close on the US stock market after oil prices rose.

Earlier, among the major banks at 10.32am (AEDT), Commonwealth Bank was 87 cents higher at $76.63, National Australia Bank was up 31 cents at $28.28, and ANZ had advanced 58 cents to $26.12.

But Westpac was down 67.5 cents, or 2.2 per cent, at $30.225, after going ex-dividend.

BHP shares were down 40 cents at $21.17, amid worries about when its iron ore mine in Brazil, jointly operated with Vale, will re-open after a dam burst unleashing a mudslide that’s killed four people.

“That’s, obviously, taking quite a big chunk out of its net present value,” Nicholson said.

Elsewhere in the resources sector, Rio Tinto was up 9.5 cents at $49.70.

And Fortescue Metals Group shares were 9.5 cents, or four per cent, higher at $2.395 in early trade after announced it’s repaying debt worth $US750 million ($A1.07 billion) as part of its efforts to reduce interest costs.

Shares in Flight Centre, which is targeting another record profit result after making a solid start to the new financial year, rose 41 cents to $37.19.

And, Dulux shares were up 13 per cent at$6.09, after the paint and building products maker said it’s confident of further profit growth after recording a solid 7.9 per cent lift in full year earnings.

Locally, in economic news on Wednesday, the Westpac/Melbourne Institute Survey of Consumer Sentiment is due out.

And, the Mining safety conference continues in Perth.

In equities news, DuluxGroup is expected to post full year results while Breville Group, Servcorp, Webjet, Computershare, Flight Centre, Fortescue Metals, Navitas and Mount Gibson Iron all have annual general meetings scheduled.

NEW YORK – Wall Street has extended losses in opening trade with Apple shares leading the way down on a report suggesting iPhone 6s sales are weaker than hoped.

Also pulling the market lower on Tuesday was a downbeat forecast by huge clothing retailer Gap, where sales in its namesake brand and Banana Republic stores fell in October.

LONDON – Weak Chinese data has added to investor concerns about a looming US rate hike, with the euro striking a new six-month dollar low.

China’s consumer price index reading – the weakest since May – comes days after Beijing data showed a sharp fall in imports and exports, adding to worries about the growth slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.

Officials said prices rose 1.3 per cent last month, down from 1.6 per cent year-on-year in September.

“A key feature of global economic developments since the 2007 crisis has been the absence of inflation in the major economies,” VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon said on Tuesday.

“This reflects a number of factors, but can mostly be attributed to weak global demand and excess supply.

HONG KONG – A further slowdown in Chinese inflation has compounded worries about the world’s number-two economy, adding to selling pressure in Asian markets as talk of a December US interest rate rise increases.

Liu Li-Gang, the chief Greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong, said the latest data “requires the (People’s Bank of China) to engage in more aggressive policy easing”.

It also brought an end to a five-day rally in Shanghai, which had been boosted Monday by news that authorities will resume initial public offerings this month after a four-month hiatus caused by the summer stock rout.

ENERGY

Oil prices have edged up slightly after retreating but gains have been tempered by long-running worries about a supply glut and a weak global economic outlook.

On Tuesday fresh figures showed inflation in China slowed further in October, compounding fears about the nation’s outlook.

Adding to the selling was news the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) had cut its growth outlook for the world economy for this year and next.

Traders are also keeping an eye on a US stockpiles report from the Energy Information Administration due out later in the week, looking for any signs of a pick-up in demand.

PRECIOUS METALS

NEW YORK, Nov 10, Reuters – Gold has fallen toward a three-month low as the US dollar hits a seven-month peak on prospects the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December, while silver and platinum extend losses to multi-week troughs.

“I don’t think a December rate hike is completely priced in … we can see more losses in gold,” Natixis analyst Bernard Dahdah said.

“Once the news comes out, the attention will turn into how quickly the cycle will tighten and the higher the rates, the lower the price of gold.”

BASE METALS

Zinc prices have tumbled to their lowest in more than five years, hit by a strong US dollar, worries about oversupply and concern over faltering demand in top metals consumer China.

Stop loss levels were triggered as a wave of selling by funds hit industrial metals, sending copper and nickel to the weakest in more than two months, despite recent announcements of output cuts by miners.

Zinc was the hardest hit even though Belgium’s Nyrstar, the world’s top zinc producer, on Monday said it may cut up to another 400,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate output if prices remain depressed.

“Yesterday’s news should have been constructive for zinc, but the market doesn’t seem to care about output cuts. They don’t think it’s enough basically,” said analyst Edward Meir at broker INTL FCStone in New York.

“The cuts are too little, too late and the market doesn’t trust the permanence of the cuts. Also the cutbacks are being more than offset by questions about slowing demand.”

WASHINGTON – An early interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve would involve higher risks than waiting a bit longer, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund has warned.

NEW DELHI – India’s government has announced plans for a sweeping liberalisation of its foreign direct investment (FDI) regime, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to counter accusations his reform drive is stalling.

PARIS – French company Alstom says it has won a 3 billion euros ($A4.58 billion) contract under which it will open a factory in India to supply the nation’s rail operator with 800 electric locomotives.

Stocks to watch on the Australian Stock Exchange

BHP – BHP BILLITON: Negligence and human error likely caused two mining dams in southeastern Brazil to burst last week, unleashing a wave of mud that killed four people and left 22 others missing, the Minas Gerais state environmental prosecutor said Tuesday.

BRG BREVILLE: Breville Group holds its annual general meeting on Wednesday in Sydney.

CPU – COMPUTERSHARE: Computershare has its annual general meeting in Melbourne.

DLX – DULUXGROUP: DuluxGroup is slated to post full year results on Wednesday.

FLT – FLIGHT CENTRE: Flight Centre holds its annual general meeting in Brisbane on Wednesday.

FMG – FORTESCUE METALS GROUP: Fortescue Metals holds its annual general meeting in Perth.

MGX – MOUNT GIBSON IRON: Mount Gibson Iron holds its annual general meeting in Perth.

NVT – NAVITAS: Navitas holds its annual general meeting in Perth.

SRV – SERVCORP: Servcorp has its annual general meeting in Sydney.

WEB – WEBJET: Webjet holds its annual general meeting in Melbourne.

AAP