Australian shares are set to open lower on Tuesday ahead of the central bank's cash rate decision later in the day, with domestic equities tracking an overnight sell-off on Wall Street due to renewed US-China trade tensions and inflation concerns.

The local share price index futures fell 0.9%, a 102.5-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close.

The benchmark rose 1.3% to close at 7,287.5 on Monday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index was down 0.4% to 13,282.4 in early trade.