Australia shares seen opening higher, BHP appoints new CEO

SYDNEY: Australian shares are set to start higher on Wednesday, buoyed by market momentum and gains on Wall Street, with top global miner BHP Billiton Ltd in focus after it reported a sharp fall in half-year profit and appointed a new CEO.

Local share price index futures rose 0.3 percent to 5,076, a 5.9-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark struck a 4-1/2 year high on Tuesday, continuing the recent rally on better-than-expected corporate earnings.

BHP appointed the head of its non-ferrous division as its new chief executive on Wednesday after it reported a 43 percent drop in half-year profit, its worst half-year slide in more than a decade.

New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index slipped 0.7 percent to 4,212.4 in early trade.

US stocks rose on Tuesday as a surge in merger activity suggested investors were still finding value in the market even as indexes closed in on all-time highs.

Copper hit a three-week low on Tuesday, depressed by unease over top consumer China's limp return to the market from a week-long holiday, although losses were limited by better-than-expected German investor sentiment data.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, Suncorp Group Ltd, and Woodside Petroleum Ltd will release earnings reports.