Australia's mining sector is expected to do the heavy lifting in business investment over the next year as healthy commodity prices lock in spending plans and non-miners such as Telstra and Wesfarmers cut back.

Official figures due out on Thursday are expected to show that capital expenditure rose 0.5 per cent in the December quarter, but economists' views vary widely, with AMP Capital expecting a contraction of 1 per cent and Commonwealth Bank forecasting a jump of 1.5 per cent.