July 8 (Reuters) - Australian shares were poised to open lower on Wednesday as lockdown measures were brought back in Melbourne following a recent spike in coronavirus cases, dampening hopes of economic recovery.
Investor sentiment took a hit after lockdown measures were reimposed in the country's second largest city on Tuesday, confining residents to their homes unless undertaking essential business for six weeks. Wall Street ended lower overnight as the greater Miami area in Florida became the latest U.S. coronavirus hot spot to roll back its reopening. .N
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.5%, a 53.9-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark settled down 0.03% at 6,012.9 on Tuesday.
In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was up 0.5% to 11,804.2 points in early trade.