Aussie stocks slide on fall oil,commodities

Aussie shares dipped lower at the open on Wednesday as falls in oil and key commodities overnight weighed on energy and resources stocks.

At 1010 AEDT on Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 16.9 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,094.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 15.4 points, or 0.30 per cent, at 5,253.2.

Aussie stocks are in stuck in a wide, horizontal range trade with relatively low aggregated capital growth given Tuesday's near 1.5 percent tumble, that was stronger than the futures market and leading indicators had predicted, IG market strategist Evan Lucas said.

"It's not that unsurprising considering last week the ASX was one of the best performing indices in Asia, and the world for that matter," escaping the mid-week selling due to the industrial commodities bounce, Lucas said.

However, there will be pain ahead for traders on Wednesday as there is no justification to see the ASX take a leg higher before an "interesting" press conference from the U.S. Federal Reserve in tonight's offshore trade.

"The debate around how many rate hikes that will we see in 2016 will likely be the biggest short term factor in driving the market in one way or another," Lucas said.

In early trade, ANZ was up 0.20 percent, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.25 percent, the National Australia Bank edged 0.07 percent higher however Westpac slipped 0.19 percent.

Miners and energy stocks are the biggest weights on the index following slumps in iron ore and oil overnight, with BHP Billiton down 2.74 percent, rival Rio Tinto shedding 1.37 percent while gold miner Newcrest gaining 0.30 percent.

Oil Search fell 1.44 percent, Santos slided 2.07 percent while Woodside Petroleum dropped 0.02 percent.

Wesfarmers and Woolworths were 0.97 percent and 1.32 percent weaker respectively.

Qantas added 1.44 percent while Telstra fell 0.47 percent. Endit