The Australian share market has opened slightly lower, hurt by financial stocks following falls on Wall Street.
Energy and material stocks are getting a lift from a stronger oil price and a reasonable performance from base metals and other commodities on the London Metals Exchange, optionsXpress market analyst Ben Le Brun said.
"But they're the only two sectors in positive territory, everything else is down. But I would say down, but not out," Mr Le Brun said.
"What's going to hold the balance of power no doubt is the financials, given they've got the heaviest weighting on the ASX 200," he added.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 8.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4,938.3 points at 1030 AEDT.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 222.8 points lower on Wednesday, or 1.4 per cent, to 15,944.5 points after a disappointing policy update from the US central bank.
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, and said they still expect to raise borrowing costs at a gradual pace as they watch how the global economy and markets impact the US outlook.
Its failure to provide a strong indication on when it could scale back future interest rate rises disappointed the market.
A three per cent rise in oil prices pushed Woodside Petroleum and Rio Tinto into positive territory. Woodside Petroleum jumped 42 cents to $26.41, while Rio Tinto gained 64 cents to $38.75.
In the financial space, AMP was down 4.5 cents to $5.27, while Macquarie Group dropped 54 cents to $73.27.
Westpac Banking was down 13 cents to $30.20, Commonwealth Bank fell 30 cents to $77.30, National Australia Bank dropped 16 cents to $26.74.
ANZ Bank bucked the trend, up 25 cents to $23.92.
KEY FACTS:
* At 1030 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 8.1 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4,938.3 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 9.2 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 4,991.6. points.
* The March share price index futures contract was down 28 points at 4887 points, with 11,340 contracts traded.
* National turnover was 307.1 million securities traded worth $383.1 million.
