Finance

The Australian market is expected to open lower after US stocks fell slightly in afternoon trading, set with utilities by rate hike expectations under pressure.

At 0645 AEDT on Tuesday, the December share index futures contract fell 16 points to 5,269.
Locally, in economic news on Tuesday, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens is scheduled to speak at an Australian MBAs dinner in Sydney.
Meanwhile the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence survey weeks that out, Roy Morgan launches the State of the Nation report and the Australian Business Economists conference is on in Sydney. In equities news, Harvey Norman, brickworks and Billabong International have their annual general meetings.
Meanwhile, Treasury Wine Estates CEO Michael Clarke is scheduled to give a speech at an AICC lunch in Adelaide. In Australia, the market on Monday closed higher, as investors continued despite further weakness in the commodity sector to gain confidence.

The benchmark S & P / ASX200 index was up 20.3 points or 0.39 percent to 5,276.4 points.The broader All Ordinaries index was up 21 points or 0.4 percent at 5,326.5 points.