Aust shares open higher

United States retail spending rose at half the rate expected by economists.

This fightback by banks, however, was offset by weakness in energy stocks, which were hit by a further fall in the price of oil overnight and profit-taking after last week’s run-up.

“Certain sections of the analytical community are calling for a rate cut in November after Westpac increased its variable home rate and this should be a positive driver for the high yielding stocks”, he said.

The surprise drop in the number of employed people sparked a dip in the Australian dollar, pushing the currency down a third of a U.S. cent to the low US73c level.

“The market is suffering a little bit of a hangover from yesterday’s numbers out of China”, Ms Lee said.

Meanwhile, equities were humming along as Credit Suisse analyst Hasan Tevfik called on local investors to be “contrarian” and to start “thinking bottom-up”.

Mining stocks led the day’s rally, with Rio Tinto tipping a higher intensity demand for steel in Asia in the medium term.

Other data showed that United States producer prices fell by 0.5 per cent, the steepest decline this year. However, rival Rio Tinto gained 0.11 percent. Shares were down 1.52 at 97c. National Australia Bank climbed 0.9 per cent to $31.51 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia was up 0.4 per cent to $74.56.

The stock opened at $1.96 and closed at $1.83.

Energy giant Woodside Petroleum lost 1.6 per cent to $30.86, fellow energy player Santos was down 6.7 per cent to $5.18, while PNG-focused Oil Search was three per cent lower to $7.14.

Banks were lower after Westpac said it is looking to raise additional capital of $3.5 billion.

Westpac shocked markets today by announcing an across the board 20 point hike on all its mortgages to bolster its capital base in addition to a $3.5 billion capital raising.

Consumer staples were also a market leader, buoyed by growing consumer confidence figures.

Wesfarmers strengthened by 0.27 percent while Woolworths is 1.16 percent higher.

Industrials weighed heaviest on the market.