Feb 18 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to open little changed on Tuesday as investors remain on the sidelines ahead of earnings from major companies, including miner BHP Group Ltd BHP.AX and supermarket chain Coles Group Ltd COL.AX .
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 ticked lower, a 62.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark slipped about 0.1% on Monday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was up about 0.3% in early trade.