The Australian share market is pushing higher after market heavyweight BHP Billiton increased its dividend and announced fresh cost cutting.

On a busy day of corporate earnings reports, BHP Billiton had the healthiest market reaction, with shares up 85 cents, or 2.7 per cent, at $32.97.

That was despite a 47 per cent fall in half year profit to $US4.3 billion, as it lifted its dividend and outlined further reductions in expenditure in the coming two years.

Other miners were mixed, with Rio Tinto down 61 cents at $63.31 and Fortescue Metals up five cents at $2.47.

The banking sector was relatively flat and insurers were mostly lower after strong gains in recent sessions.

“The major lag was yesterday’s strength with the financial sector, in the red today with some profits booked after their very solid run,” Quay Equities head of trading Tristan K’Nell said.

National Australia Bank was down 18 cents at $37.49, Westpac was steady at $37.72, ANZ was seven cents higher at $35.11 and Commonwealth Bank was up 10 cents at $90.51.

Insurer QBE was up 27.5 cents at $11.885 after lifting its dividend following a strong improvement in annual profit, while Suncorp was down eight cents at $13.85 and IAG was 4.5 cents weaker at $5.955.

Coles owner Wesfarmers was another drag on the market as it traded without its recently paid dividend, dropping 91.5 cents to $45.797.

Woolworths was up 24 cents at $33.56.

Telstra had dropped 2.5 cents to $6.605.

KEY FACTS

* At 1210 on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up seven points, or 0.12 per cent, at 5,915 points.

* The broader All Ordinaries index was up 7.5 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 5,879.9 points.

* The March share price index futures contract was 24 points higher at 5,886 points, with 11,634 contracts traded.

* National turnover was 809 million securities worth $2.5 billion.