SYDNEY, July 21 (Reuters) - Australian shares are poised for a steady start on Tuesday, tracking a muted Wall Street, but a plunge in gold and metal prices is likely to weigh on commodities-related shares.
Investors will also be on the sidelines ahead of the central bank's minutes of policy meeting due at 1130 a.m. local time (0130 GMT).
Local share price index futures YAPcm1 rose 0.2 percent overnight, to sit at a near 35-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO . The benchmark rose 16.78 points to 5,686.89 on Monday.
Treasury Wine TWE.AX shares could drop after saying it would book a A$7.5 million ($5.53 million) pre-tax loss on the sale of its Asti Winery.
Gold miners, such as Newcrest NCM.AX and Northern Star NST.AX , will be on the radar after gold slumped to five-year lows. GOL/
Investors will keep an eye on energy-related shares, such as Santos STO.AX and Oil Search OSH.AX , after oil futures dipped below $50 a barrel on supply glut. O/R
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index .NZ50 was steady at 5,864.26 points in early trade. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a summary of overnight action across global markets,
click on AU/CALL
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian
newspapers, click on PRESS/AUB ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
($1 = 1.3567 Australian dollars)