Oct 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open slightly higher on Wednesday, after upbeat earnings by U.S. companies Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) GS.N and UnitedHealth Group Inc (NYSE:UNH) UNH.N bolstered Wall Street stocks. the 52 S&P 500 companies that have reported third-quarter results to date, 81 percent had beaten analysts average estimates, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2 percent to 5,404 points, a 6.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark snapped four sessions of losses on Tuesday and closed up 0.4 percent, or 22.12 points, at 5,410.8.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.16 percent, or 11.2 points, to 6984.26 in early trade.
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