March 17 (Reuters) - Australian shares are poised to open lower on Wednesday, as weaker commodity prices will likely weigh on the benchmark and tracking a fall on Wall Street as participants await the result of a U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The local share price index futures YAPcm1 fell 0.4%, a 24.1-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO close. The benchmark ended 0.8% higher on Tuesday.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 rose 0.4% in early trade.