Australian market set to open higher

THE Australian market looks set to open slightly higher despite Wall Street falling after data showed the feeblest Chinese factory activity in six years.

A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. Asian stock markets declined Wednesday as a global sell-off given impetus by the Volkswagen emissions scandal was exacerbated by weak Chinese factory data.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

THE Australian market looks set to open slightly higher despite Wall Street falling after data showed the feeblest Chinese factory activity in more than six years.

At 0645 AEST on Thursday, the share price index futures contract was up 11 points at 5,006.

In economic news on Thursday, Reserve Bank head of economic analysis, Alex Heath, gives a speech at an Urban Development Institute of Australia (WA Division Incorporated) lunch in Perth. In equities news, Brickworks is expected to post full year results, while Suncorp has its annual general meeting.

In Australia, the market on Wednesday tumbled two per cent to hit its lowest level in more than two years, as a fall in Chinese manufacturing activity stoked concerns about the global economy. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 105.5 points, or 2.07 per cent, at 4,998.1 points.

The broader All Ordinaries index was down 98.4 points, or 1.92 per cent, at 5,032.4 points.