Aust stocks set to open stronger

The Australian stock market looks set to open higher, following Wall Street's lead after the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed at all-time highs for the third straight session as Chinese economic growth data offset disappointing US retail sales figures.

US retail sales rose just 0.4% in June, below the 0.7% expected by analysts. But China's second-quarter gross domestic product growth came in at 7.5%, in line with expectations and better than what some experts had feared.

At 0646 AEST, the September share price index futures contract was up 20 points at 4,964.

In economic news on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia releases the minutes of its July board meeting.

In equities news, Rio Tinto is scheduled to release its second quarter operations review.

In Australia, the market on Monday closed higher for a fifth straight day, helped by encouraging signs for the housing sector which drove a rise in banking shares.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 7.2 points, or 0.14%, at 4,981.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries inde was up 8.1 points, or 0.16%, to 4,965.6 points.