Oct 12 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open lower on Wednesday, tracking a tumble on Wall Street driven by a weak start to the U.S. quarterly earnings season.
Wall Street fell more than 1 percent as shares of aluminum producer Alcoa (NYSE:AA) AA.N and diagnostics test maker Illumina ILMN.O plunged, with worries over the make-up of the U.S. Congress after November's election also weighing on stocks. MKTS/GLOB
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 dropped 0.8 percent to 5,420, a 59.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close, pointing to a sharply lower opening. The benchmark closed steady on Tuesday, adding 0.08 percent at 5479.80 points.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 snapped prior day gains and inched down 0.24 percent or 16.8 points, to 7,107.47 in early trade.
For a summary of overnight action across global markets, double click on AU/CALL
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on PRESS/AUB