Australian shares are likely to open higher on Wednesday, recovering ground lost in the previous two sessions, even as Wall Street slid overnight as profit-taking and concerns over inflation fueled a broad sell-off.

The local share price index futures rose 0.3%, a 5.8-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark fell 0.24% on Tuesday.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 0.4% in early trade.