Stocks in the red after Wall St slide

The Australian sharemarket opened weaker this morning following a poor performance on Wall Street as US stocks were hammered by record high oil prices and a weak earnings report from Citigroup.
At 10.15am, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index shed 45.6 points to 6693.4 and the All Ordinaries lost 41.7 points to 6709.9, just one day after both indices set fresh intraday highs.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 59 points to 6737 on a volume of 4,020 contracts.
Base metals were mixed in London, not doing any favours for the big miners locally, which all fell, offsetting positive energy stocks.
BHP Billiton Ltd fell 38 cents to $46.12 while rival Rio Tinto lost $1.15 to $112.06.
Alumina Ltd dropped two cents to $6.58.
The energy sector powered ahead after crude oil for November delivery rose 2.9 per cent to close at a record high of $US86.13 per barrel in New York.
Woodside Petroleum gained 51 cents to $55.01, Oil Search added two cents to $4.50, and Santos gained 15 cents to $15.36.
In New York, The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 108.28 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 13,984.8.
The Nasdaq composite slid 25.63 points, 0.91 per cent, to 2,780.05.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.09 points, 0.84 per cent, to 1,548.71.CMC Markets analyst David Land said it will be the big miners and the financials which will move the market today with little in company news scheduled.
"We got quite a bit of weight coming on the market from the big miners and the key banks, which is not surprising given the negative lead we saw coming out of the US overnight,'' he said.
"But on the plus we are seeing a bit of life out of the energy stocks.
"... overall, the miners and financials are tipping the balance.''
Gold stocks gained ground after the precious metal was boosted by a weaker US dollar and higher oil prices.
By 10.32am, the spot price of gold in Sydney was $US756.40, up $US1.60 from Monday's close at $US754.80 per fine ounce.
Gold miner Newcrest gained 21 cents to $28.06, Lihir Gold rose four cents to $4.24, AngloGold Ashanti added six cents to $10.01 while Newmont Mining was steady at $5.31.
Among the major banks, Commonwealth Bank fell 84 cents to $58.54, National Australia Bank lost 75 cents to $41.05, Westpac was 46 cents cheaper at $29.24 and ANZ was 44 cents lighter at $30.89.