Australian shares are set to open lower on Wednesday, with miners likely weighing on the benchmark as copper prices hit a one-month low, while a modest rise in gold and oil prices is expected to benefit local stocks and cap the losses.

The local share price index futures fell 0.2%, a 48.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark closed 0.4% higher at 7,273.8 on Tuesday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was largely unchanged, down 0.01% to 13,176.9 points in early trade.