ASX advances in early trade

The Australian sharemarket has opened moderately higher led by a stronger Wall Street and resources stocks.

At 1015 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 18 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 4,672, while the broader All Ordinaries had added 16.2 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 4,684.4.

On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was steady at 4,774 on volume of 27,302 contracts.

Mining giant BHP Billiton was 41 cents, or 1.01 per cent higher at $41.06 and rival miner Rio Tinto had increased 74 cents, or 1.05 per cent, to $71.25.

Amongst the banks, Commonwealth Bank added 22 cents to $53.02, Westpac fell seven cents to $23.64, National Australia Bank was up seven cents at $28.04 and ANZ Banking Group was 29 cents higher at $21.45.

US stocks finished higher on Monday after a bailout of the troubled emirate of Dubai helped allay fears of another wave of global credit problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 29.55 points, or 0.28 per cent at 10,501.05, while the S&P500 index advanced 7.70 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 1,114.11.

- AAP