SYDNEY: Australian shares slipped 0.5 percent in early trade on Tuesday, following falls in US stocks and copper prices overnight after China cuts its growth target for 2012.
China, the world's second-largest economy, clipped its growth target to an eight-year low of 7.5 percent and made expanding consumer demand its top priority, as it looks to shrink reliance on external demand and foreign capital.
Mining stocks fell in early trade after copper slipped more than 1 percent overnight as China's move sparked concerns about the strength of demand from the world's largest buyer of industrial metals.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto fell 2.1 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. Rio Tinto announced plans late on Monday, to invest $2 billion in an iron-ore project in the eastern Indian state of Orissa.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 20.6 points to 4,241.9 by 2326 GMT. The benchmark slipped 0.2 percent on Monday.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index climbed 0.5 percent to 3,403.4.
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