Australia shares set to open lower, tracking US stocks; NZ inches up

Australian shares are poised to open lower on Wednesday, tracking losses on Wall Street after US President Donald Trump warned Beijing against waiting out his first term to finalise any trade deal.

"The problem with them waiting ... is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now... or no deal at all," Trump said in a post on Twitter, adding pressure to the ongoing US-China trade negotiations in Shanghai.

The local share price index futures fell 0.4%, or 28 points, at 2200 GMT, a 1.3% discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark ended 0.3% higher on Tuesday, after touching an all-time high earlier in the session.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.1% to 10,885.060 in early trade.